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2 Republicans say they oppose DeVos

Posted at 2:40 PM, Feb 01, 2017
and last updated 2017-02-01 14:41:44-05

WASHINGTON (AP) — Two Republican senators have announced their opposition to Betsy DeVos for education secretary.

Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both say they cannot support DeVos, a wealthy Republican donor and school choice activist. Both said in Senate floor speeches Wednesday that DeVos’ commitment to the nation’s public schools is in question in light of her long-held support for vouchers and charter schools.

If all other GOP senators support DeVos as expected, and all Democrats oppose her, she would end up with a 50-50 vote in the Senate and Vice President Mike Pence would have to break the tie to confirm her.