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DeVos Confirmed
The party whips were correct and the final vote on Betsy DeVos’ nomination to head the Department of Education was 50-50.
Vice President Mike Pence, in his Constitutional role as President of the Senate cast the deciding vote. In what can only be seen as a historic piece of strategy on the part of Democrats, by delaying Jeff Session’s elevation to the cabinet they allowed him to remain in the Senate and vote for DeVos.
And, of course, this:
Oh the irony.
As an insurgent within the public education domain, I’m heartened by DeVos confirmation. I look forward to watching my progressive colleagues gnash their teeth in the days to come.
Hooray! School choice is THE civil rights issue of our time.
Leaked footage of her meeting with Donald Trump on her plans for the department:
It’s funny how whatever the Democrats want to do, they call “reform.”
So Reid’s action was “filibuster reform.”
EJ Hill!!!!!!! You crack us up!
I love irony ………
I remain somewhat amazed at how confirmation bias colors my Lefty friend’s impressions of Devos. Several have lamented that this will hurt the impoverished the most — I suppose by giving them the option of leaving failing public schools. Very painful. One even argued that she can’t support this if one child in poverty loses because a voucher takes money from that child’s school and gives it to a private school — ignoring that the voucher is most likely going with a child from said public school. It’s okay to keep one child from having a better education if it can nominally be said to support another child.
Personally, as my kids get closer and closer to school age, Devos looks an amazing choice.
That spineless cuck McConnell. Can’t he do anything right.
So the headline is “Expectations were met!”
To be honest, I saw this confirmation hearing as a real test. With two Republican Senators voting “no,” it could easily have gone either way. Many senators have had their phone messages, their inboxes, and their mailboxes filled with people urging a “no” vote with extreme prejudice. Given how we’ve perceived the Senate in the past decade, I was ready to believe that she wouldn’t be confirmed.
Now that she has been confirmed, it seems they are willing to be a lot stronger about things than I’d ever expected. Well done, Senators.
Not one scalp to the Marxists. Not one damned scalp.
The Democrats have repatriated Jonestown to America and is passing out the kool aid.
I suspect the hard part is to come. Devos has to deal with a Department which is most likely hostile to her ideas. The party that ran on Hope and Change in 2008 fears change more than almost anything else.
The Democrats could have had their scalp but they blew it. Had they sat down and whipped all of the votes they would have realized that DeVos was going to be the closest.
Had Schumer buckled on Sessions and moved to hold the vote last week what would McConnell had done? Because if you get Sessions to DOJ then the DeVos vote is 49-50 and Pence has no say.
WINNING!
Not bored yet.
Once again the Dems failed in executing on strategy. They succeed in peeling off a couple of Republicans but not enough votes.
Rahm Emmanuel has recently called the Dems out on this, he said that they care too much about “being right” instead of winning. And to win while out of power the Dems need to focus on wedge issues, DeVos was an opportunity to capitalize on this but they failed.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chicagoinc/ct-rahm-emanuel-national-democrats-advice-0207-chicago-inc-20170206-story.html
If they start listening to Rahm the Republicans could be in trouble this year getting things through Congress as Republicans are known for fighting among themselves.
I agree with @cudouglas … now what do you do?
That department isn’t going to lift a finger (and will leak, and obstruct) on any policy moves to charter schools or school choice. I remember Kissinger’s saying that the reason academic politics is so dirty is because the stakes are so low. That’s the environment out of which the Education Department staff comes from. They’re going to be dirty and underhanded about their Resistance! to Trump and deVos. Count on a scandal being manufactured there.
This strikes me as an air traffic controller’s opportunity.
I am… truly… at a loss for words. What an amazing event. Thank you for posting.
Oh, let’s thank all the Democrats who pushed Reid into providing us with this great victory. SUCKER!
I am so happy you said that – Do we finally have an opportunity to break the Teacher’s Union? I hope so!
Trump really can get the left to lose their minds. His best quality to be honest.
While this is a good win, can we calm down a bit on the exultation of continuous rampant victory. This was a confirmation vote, it’s nothing. The hard part starts now.
Trump’s next EO should be to undo JFK’s EO permitting public sector unions. It would be one the top three or four actions he could take in domestic politics.
That would be more consequential than anything he does on immigration.
I want the two spineless R’s who voted NO to be taken to the woodshed, and spanked to within an inch of their bottoms. Leadership needs to take charge.
Would someone please explain this need of Democrats’ permission for Sessions to exercise his elected authority as Senator?
This arrangement does not change the odds of Sessions being confirmed, correct? Republicans can’t count on much of anything until the Department of Justice is lawful again.
And let’s start impeaching lawless judges. As Steyn remarked yesterday, when one judge can overrule the President on foreign policy without clear evidence of executive overreach, one wonders if Americans are truly intolerant of monarchy.
What kind of Republican do you expect will get elected in Maine? Are you willing to jeopardize the senate majority for your vendetta? McConnell, knowing he could count on Pence to break the tie probably allowed this to preserve her seat and get more important work done in the future.
As for Murkowski – she’s a ridiculous nepotism case who was primaried and then elected independently with the help of teachers unions. Primary her again and get an actual conservative elected. That’s easier in Alaska.
As good as that sounds it wouldn’t have worked. Unlike the House, Senators enjoy a certain independence. And the majority isn’t big enough for butt hurt sulking.