DeVos: My confirmation was ‘a bit of a bear’

Recently confirmed Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos on Wednesday said her confirmation process in the United States Senate was “a bit of a bear.”

“For me, personally, this confirmation process and the drama in engendered, has been a bit of a bear,” DeVos said in a speech to the Department of Education her first full day on the job.

{mosads}DeVos during her hearing said schools in Wyoming may need guns to “protect from potential grizzlies,” a comment that supplied her critics with ammo as they sought to prevent her confirmation.

DeVos looked up and smiled after making the joke, which prompted a laugh from her audience.

Liberal advocacy groups sought to jam Republican senators’ phone lines in the lead-up to DeVos’s vote.

DeVos was ultimately confirmed, despite two GOP senators voting against her nomination, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the 50-50 tie.