Vice President Mike Pence cast a historic tie-breaking vote to confirm the deeply controversial nomination of billionaire heiress Betsy DeVos as the next secretary of education.
The confirmation means President Donald Trump will now have five of his 15 cabinet members in place more then two weeks into his administration, along with the CIA director and US ambassador to the United Nations, which are cabinet-rank positions.
The chamber deadlocked at 50-50, with two Republicans breaking ranks to oppose DeVos, a champion of using taxpayer monies to help fund privately run schools.
“The Senate being equally divided, the vice president votes in the affirmative, and the nomination is confirmed,” Pence said.
It was the first time a sitting vice president has voted to break a tie for a cabinet pick.
Afterward, Pence tweeted that the confirmation was “a vote for every child having a chance at a world-class education.”
– Contentious pick –
Her nomination has proven to be the most contentious of Trump’s picks.
Pence’s vote was needed to save DeVos, who had triggered an outpouring of frustration and anger when Trump nominated the 59-year-old political scion from Michigan late last year.
Two moderate Senate Republicans, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, bucked Trump and opposed his pick, citing her lack of qualifications for the post that oversees thousands of schools, millions of school children and curriculum standards.
Democrats were unable to convince another Republican to defect despite intense lobbying efforts that culminated with an all-night Democratic talk-a-thon late Monday into Tuesday on the Senate floor.
Senator Patty Murray said DeVos’s performance at last month’s confirmation hearing “underscored how unprepared she is to serve as secretary of education.”
Murray, a former pre-school teacher, added: “There are open questions about her financial entanglements… and lack of understanding about basic education issues.”
DeVos, a former chair of the Michigan Republican Party, never attended public school or worked in the public school system.
Supporters praise the businesswoman and philanthropist as a fierce advocate of school choice, a US movement that seeks to use tax credits and vouchers to allow parents to opt out of the public school system in favor of privately managed charter schools for their children.
