The Senate is poised to take up President Obama’s nominee to lead the Department of Education.
Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) set up a vote on John King’s nomination to lead the department for Monday at 5:30 p.m.
{mosads}Obama nominated King last month and the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee approved him in a 16-6 vote Wednesday.
King has been the department’s acting secretary since Arne Duncan stepped down last year. The White House initially indicated it wouldn’t formally nominate King to avoid an election-year fight in the Senate.
Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), however, said he urged the president to submit King’s nomination and promised to give him a “fair” hearing. Alexander voted in favor of his nomination Wednesday, and urged the Senate to quickly take it up.
Despite bipartisan support in the committee, King is facing opposition from both parties in Monday’s vote.
Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who supported his nomination Wednesday, warned that unless he provided “more direct answers” on how he would bolster protections for students who borrow money to pay for college, she would vote agianst him next week.
His nomination had been under a hold by Sen. James Lankford. A spokesman said that though the Oklahoma Republican has lifted his hold, he would still likely vote against the nomination.
King, a former teacher and principal, joined the Department of Education in 2015 after serving as state commissioner of education in New York.