DeVos is in. I guess I am not surprised, but I am disappointed. Of the various candidates, some of whom I thought were poor choices based on past performance or ethics issues, I thought Betsy DeVos was clearly the weakest. Not only does she have no credentials relevant to the field, she has views on vouchers and how school finance works that are a danger to K12 education. The Department of Education has long been disparaged by those who see it as having no meaningful purpose, but at least this lack of respect did not translate into a position that could do damage to such an important field. I just can’t see politicians making a choice of this type for a position they regard as important.
I tend to view political issues from my own perspective. I live in Minnesota and the two Senators from Minnesota both opposed the nominee making comment on the same issues I find to be relevant. I spent most of my working life in North Dakota. This state is strongly republican and while the state claims to value education it has very little experience with the kind of issues that are important in populated and diverse states. Sen. Hoeven must know DeVos is a weak, but rich candidate. I am guessing he decided the extreme positions she holds can do limited damage in his state because of the small population and saved his political chips for another day. Weak, but understandable. I know he was under pressure even in North Dakota. He had very little to say to explain his vote. He claimed he was a friend of education (hard to know what that means) and said he had spoken with DeVos who said she would respect the decisions of states. Taking such a narrow position allowed some cover and might have been acceptable to the citizens of a state who simply do not get out much.
Rewarding unqualified, big contributors with party favors makes a mockery of draining the swamp, but did anyone really think that slogan carried any weight.