Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., the chairman of the Senate education committee, said Betsy DeVos will be an 鈥渆xcellent education secretary鈥� after meeting Tuesday with President-elect Donald Trump鈥檚 nominee to lead the U.S. Department of Education.
鈥淚鈥檓 looking forward to her hearing because I know she will impress the Senate with her passionate support for improving education for all children. I am fully confident that she will be swiftly confirmed by the full Senate,鈥� Alexander said in a statement.
Originally, the committee鈥檚 hearing on DeVos鈥� nomination was slated to be held Jan. 11. But late Monday, Alexander and the committee鈥檚 top Democrat, Sen. Patty Murray of Washington, . Murray has been highlighting the need for DeVos to submit required ethics-related information to the Office for Government Ethics, and for that office to submit it to the committee, before any hearing on her nomination.
Sources say those concerns contributed to the hearing鈥檚 delay鈥擱epublicans didn鈥檛 want DeVos鈥� hearing to center around the fact that she hadn鈥檛 received clearance from the ethics office.
However, Alexander said earlier Tuesday that he knew of no problems that had cropped up as a result of information DeVos submitted to the OGE. The hearing was moved back, he said, after Senate leadership requested it due to scheduling issues. In his statement Tuesday, Alexander reiterated that the committee vote on DeVos鈥� nomination would take place Jan. 24.
DeVos is a prominent backer of vouchers and other school choice programs across the country. She is also a prominent donor to GOP politicians, including several members of the Senate education committee. When Trump nominated DeVos in November, Alexander praised her nomination in a public statement. He also said at the time that he looked forward to working with DeVos to reauthorize the Higher Education Act, although DeVos does not have an extensive record with higher education policy.