Democrats are speaking on the Senate floor for 24 hours in a last-ditch effort to derail the confirmation of Betsy DeVos, President Trump’s nominee for education secretary.
"Now is the time to put country before party," said Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), urging GOP senators to join Democrats in opposing DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and major Republican donor who has spent decades advocating the use of public funds to help parents pay tuition at private and religious schools.
"Her views are extreme," Schumer said. "She seems to constantly demean the main purpose of her job, public education."
DeVos’s confirmation vote is scheduled for noon Tuesday. All 48 members of the Senate Democratic caucus are expected to oppose her, along with two Republicans, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine. Democrats need just one more Republican to flip to defeat the nomination, and they are hoping their 24-hour speech-a-thon will ratchet up the pressure.
Read more at The Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/education/wp/2017/02/06/senate-democrats-mount-one-last-push-against-betsy-devos/