Betsy DeVos Confirmed as Education Secretary in Historic VP Tie-Breaking Vote - First Ever for Cabinet Nominee

Vice President Mike Pence cast a historic tie-breaking vote on February 7, 2017, to confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary—the first time in American history that a vice president’s tie-breaking power was used to confirm a Cabinet nominee. The Senate vote split exactly 50-50, with two Republican senators—Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska—joining all 46 Democrats and both Independents in opposing DeVos.

This marked the 245th instance of a VP using tie-breaking power in Senate history, but never before had it been needed for a Cabinet confirmation. Previous vice presidents, including Joe Biden during his entire eight years, never cast a tie-breaking vote for any Cabinet nominee. The unprecedented closeness reflected DeVos’s profound unsuitability for the position and the depth of opposition to her nomination.

DeVos, a Michigan billionaire mega-donor to Republican causes, had zero experience working in, attending, or even volunteering at a public school. Her confirmation hearing revealed shocking ignorance about basic educational policy, including confusion about the difference between proficiency and growth in student assessment. Senate Democrats staged an all-night talkathon on February 6 attempting to draw attention to DeVos’s lack of qualifications and her family’s massive political donations—estimated at $200 million to Republican candidates and causes.

The narrowest Cabinet confirmation in history installed a Secretary of Education fundamentally hostile to public education, committed to diverting taxpayer money to private and religious schools through voucher programs, and backed by a family fortune built on the Amway multi-level marketing scheme. DeVos’s confirmation demonstrated that massive political donations could overcome complete lack of qualifications, setting a precedent for Trump’s systematic installation of industry lobbyists and donors in regulatory positions designed to oversee their own industries.

DeVos was sworn into office at 6 p.m. the same day, immediately beginning her work to undermine public education from within.