Senate committee vote on DeVos postponed

An executive session for the committee voting on President Trump’s Education secretary pick Betsy DeVos has been postponed by one week, congressional aides announced Friday night.

The Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee vote on DeVos is now scheduled for Jan. 31, the committee said. It was previously scheduled for Jan. 24.

The delay is meant to give committee members time to review DeVos’ letter with the Office of Government Ethics (OGE) outlining steps she’s agreed to take to avoid conflicts of interest.

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A spokesperson for HELP Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) said that the committee had received DeVos’ OGE paperwork.

“She has completed the committee’s paperwork, answered questions for 3 ½ hours at her confirmation hearing, met privately with the members of the committee, and she will now spend the coming days answering senators’ written questions for the record,” the spokesperson said.

Alexander had called on DeVos to answer written questions by Thursday evening and said her paperwork had to be completed by Friday before committee members met in an executive session.

DeVos appeared before the committee on Tuesday, where she faced a grilling from Senate Democrats about her history as a GOP mega-donor and her support for public education. She vowed during the hearing to be a “strong advocate for great public schools.”