WASHINGTON — Vice President Mike Pence cast the first tie-breaking vote ever for a Cabinet-level nominee Tuesday for Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, confirming her as the next education secretary.
The vote came after Democrats held the floor for more than 24 hours of debate criticizing DeVos over her qualifications for the job.
Two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, voted against DeVos bringing the Senate to a 50-50 tie. Pence broke the tie by casting a vote in favor of confirming DeVos.
In the final minutes of debate, Senate Assistant Minority Leader Patty Murray made final remarks excoriating DeVos, saying the American public “learned about the extreme right wing ideology that drives [DeVos] — how she wants to bring her anti-government, free market above all philosophy to an education system that she called nothing more than — ‘an industry and a dead end.’”
Tennessee Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander shot back in the remaining minutes of debate time saying on the floor that DeVos was treated unfairly by Democrats throughout the confirmation process.
“She offered to meet with [Democrats], and they refused. She finally met with them in their offices — then follow-up questions. We asked Obama education secretaries 53 and 56 questions. They asked her 1,400 questions, and then they met in one of their member meeting and announced they all agreed to vote against her before she had a chance to answer the questions,” Alexander said.
Following the confirmation vote of DeVos, the Senate moved on to end debate for the confirmation of Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions as Attorney General.
