Betsy DeVos appeared before the U.S. Senate’s education committee in January for her confirmation hearing. Pressed to support precise positions, Ms. DeVos avoided specifics and instead promised to work with lawmakers toward common goals. Chronicle photo by Julia Schmalz
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos felt “undercoached” by transition-team staff members for her contentious confirmation hearing in January, according to a lengthy profile of the enigmatic cabinet official in Politico Magazine.
“The transition group was very circumspect about how much information they gave me about then-current policy,” she said, and “it was in their view a balance between being prepared for a confirmation hearing and not having well-formed opinions on what should or shouldn’t change, so as not to get caught in a confirmation hearing making commitments that then I wouldn’t want to or be able to keep.”
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Betsy DeVos appeared before the U.S. Senate’s education committee in January for her confirmation hearing. Pressed to support precise positions, Ms. DeVos avoided specifics and instead promised to work with lawmakers toward common goals. Chronicle photo by Julia Schmalz
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos felt “undercoached” by transition-team staff members for her contentious confirmation hearing in January, according to a lengthy profile of the enigmatic cabinet official in Politico Magazine.
“The transition group was very circumspect about how much information they gave me about then-current policy,” she said, and “it was in their view a balance between being prepared for a confirmation hearing and not having well-formed opinions on what should or shouldn’t change, so as not to get caught in a confirmation hearing making commitments that then I wouldn’t want to or be able to keep.”
“And in hindsight,” she said, “I wish I had a whole lot more information.”
This is pattern where DeVos throws staff under bus--see inauguration tweet about historic. But coaching critique doesn’t make sense https://t.co/BfAtB3Q4VJ
The Politico Magazine profile of Ms. DeVos centers on her “Rethink School” tour through middle America earlier this year. (The Chronicle joined Ms. DeVos for several stops along the route.)
President Trump’s choice of Betsy DeVos, a philanthropist and generous donor to many conservative causes, to be his secretary of education aroused some of the strongest opposition of any nominee for the Trump cabinet.
During a string of interviews with the magazine, Ms. DeVos — who rarely speaks with national reporters — told Politico that while she expected dealing with bureaucracy to be difficult, it is “much more formidable” than even she anticipated. “It’s even worse,” she said, “and you know, in talking to a lot of the great career staff, it’s like everybody nods their heads when you talk about this … yet it seems like everyone is powerless to do anything about it.”
Ms. DeVos has faced increased scrutiny over the past week after a Freedom of Information Act request by American Oversight, a nonprofit group focused on “holding this administration accountable,” returned a detailed version of her schedule over her first six months as secretary. The group’s report focused on what it described as “frequent days off.” Ms. DeVos’s public schedule, which is typically updated on a weekly basis, has not been updated since the middle of October, adding to the criticism.
Adam Harris, a staff writer at The Atlantic, was previously a reporter at The Chronicle of Higher Education and covered federal education policy and historically Black colleges and universities. He also worked at ProPublica.
