February 07, 2017 10:42 AM UTC

Betsy DeVos Confirmed As Gardner, Bennet Split Vote

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• by: Colorado Pols

New York Times:

The Senate confirmed Betsy DeVos on Tuesday as education secretary, approving the embattled nominee only with the help of a historic tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence.

The 51-to-50 vote elevates Ms. DeVos — a wealthy donor from Michigan who has devoted much of her life to expanding educational choice through charter schools and vouchers, but has limited experience with the public school system — to be steward of the nation’s schools.

GOP Sen. Cory Gardner voted for Betsy DeVos, giving his final answer to protesters who have besieged his office and phone lines for weeks. Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, on the other hand, joined the Democrats’ late-night protest against DeVos’ confirmation:

I’m #NoOnDeVos because our young people cannot afford to wait four years for their chance at the American Dream. pic.twitter.com/tYphdWlj8R

— Michael F. Bennet (@SenBennetCO) February 7, 2017

And now we’ll all have to await the judgment of history! Gardner has obviously made the calculation that supporting DeVos now will not be a political problem for him when he’s up for re-election in 2020. With that said, Gardner is now by the same yardstick he used against his Democratic opponent in 2014 the “deciding vote” for DeVos–which helps link Gardner’s fate to hers, and to the Trump administration as a whole.

Hope that works out.