DEVOS VOTE DELAYED: Just hours after receiving the completed ethics review of Betsy DeVos, Donald Trump’s pick for Education Secretary, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) agreed to postpone its vote on the Michigan philanthropist. The vote, which was originally scheduled for Tuesday, will now take place on Jan. 31. According to the Washington Post, HELP committee chairman Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) wanted the committee more time to review DeVos’ ethics report.
In the released government ethics paperwork, DeVos listed 102 financial assets with potential conflicts of interest that she would divest from upon her first 90 days as Education Secretary. Among the assets she’s holding onto is Neurocore, a Michigan-based company that claims to help kids and adults overcome challenges with autism, stress, depression and more at its “brain performance centers.”
Along with the extra time to review her financial disclosures, some senators are now asking for a second confirmation hearing for DeVos. Ten Democrats on the HELP Committee sent a letter sent to Alexander on Monday urging for another round of questioning of DeVos, who has never worked in public schools but is an advocate of charter schools and voucher programs.
In their letter, the senators wrote: “We would like to ask Ms. DeVos additional questions we were prevented from asking this week given we did not know all of the financial and ethical information that has now been shared with us, as well as address additional questions that have arisen from the OGE paperwork.”
