The Senate is expected to confirm President Donald Trump’s nominee for education secretary by the narrowest margin in history. Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, have announced their intention to oppose Betsy DeVos, meaning the Senate will be split 50-50. Vice President Mike Pence is expected to break the tie.
So what is behind Collins and Murkowski’s revolt?
Critics say it’s about the money. For years, both senators have been on the receiving end of thousands of dollars in donations by the National Education Association, one of the largest and most powerful teachers unions in the country.
This is notable, because NEA donates almost exclusively to Democrats.
In fact, these two senators combined for nearly 8% of all NEA donations to Republican politicians since 2012.
“Murkowski received a 100 percent rating on a 2012 NEA Report Card, while Collins received a 75 percent rating — the only Republicans to earn marks above 50 percent from the group. Each senator has earned straight-A marks from the union since 2014,” The Washington Free Beacon reported last Wednesday.
“Murkowski has long been a favorite of teachers unions. She was one of only four Republican senators to receive contributions from the NEA in 2016, hauling in $10,000, while the other three Republicans received only $3,200. She received the NEA’s endorsement in 2010 when she won as an independent candidate after losing the GOP primary, and received it again in 2016.”
Murkowski herself said of her opposition to DeVos, “I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of education who has been so involved on one side of the equation, so immersed in the push for vouchers that she may be unaware of what actually is successful within the public schools and also what is broken and how to fix them.”
Another politician blowing hot air — or, business as usual in Washington, D.C.
In addition to DeVos, Republicans hope to confirm a series of other divisive nominees this week: Alabama Republican Sen. Jeff Sessions as attorney general, GOP Rep. Tom Price of Georgia as health secretary, and financier Steven Mnuchin as treasury secretary.
In each case Democrats intend to use the maximum time allowed under the Senate’s arcane rules to debate the nominations, which may result in a late-night vote this week and delay Mnuchin’s approval until Saturday.
Yet there is little suspense about the final outcome on any of the nominees because Democrats themselves changed Senate rules when they were in the majority several years ago so that Cabinet nominees can now be approved with a simple majority, not the 60 votes previously required.
The Associated Press contributed to this article