Betsy DeVos Joins Trump's Billionaire Club
Betsy DeVos was confirmed as the new Secretary of Education on Tuesday, Feb. 7. The tie-breaking vote was cast by Vice President Mike Pence—the first time in history that a vice president needed to vote in the confirmation of a cabinet member. Two Republican senators, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, voted against her confirmation, siding with 48 Democrats. DeVos came under fire in recent weeks for her apparent lack of knowledge in the field of education, especially when questioned by Senators Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren. She revealed that neither she nor her children attended public schools, displaying a clear lack of familiarity with the department she is now tasked with overseeing.
As the confirmation process went on, further worrying factors were uncovered. DeVos was the first in Trump’s cabinet nominees to bypass the ethics review. Senator Sanders brought up her sizable contributions to the Republican party, totaling 200 million dollars, to help fund the campaigns of some sitting senators. She has also been a proponent of charter schools, diverting money from public school funds. In earlier interviews, DeVos described public schools as a dead end, helping to spur on a national movement opposing her confirmation. Her comments concerning guns in schools to protect from potential grizzly bears also drew heaping ridicule among the online community.
DeVos’ views spell a downturn in the future of the education system. While many Democrats gained popularity on the promise of free, or at least decreased, tuition for colleges, DeVos commented, “There’s nothing in life that’s truly free,” fitting words from a woman who married into a family worth upwards of five billion dollars and who has never dealt with many of the difficulties most of the American public faces. She also avoided the subject of whether or not the new department would uphold a rule that requires colleges to take preventative action against sexual assault. She has also displayed a frightening lack of understanding regarding basic education philosophy when questioned by various senators during her confirmation hearings.
Some see hope in the limits of the Education Department’s power. For now, the school systems are mainly under state control, though the federal government has been influential in certain cases. One such incident involved legislature to allow transgender students to use public bathrooms according to the gender they identify as. Though DeVos’s stance on LGBT issues is relatively unknown, her family has contributed to groups that support gay conversion therapy in the past; it seems unlikely that the department will continue to be as involved in protecting the rights of all students while DeVos holds the office.
Although less related to her new post, DeVos’ family ties have also cast doubt on her character. Her husband is the son of the founder of Amway and former CEO of that company. Amway has been investigated for illegal pyramid schemes in its business practices. DeVos’ brother, Erik Prince, founded the private security firm, Blackwater USA, which was widely ridiculed when company employees opened fire in an Iraqi square, killing 17 civilians.
Donald Trump’s latest cabinet confirmation continues the trend of the nation being governed by a highly exclusive billionaires club. Money is consistently picked over qualification to fit the President’s twisted ideology. In addition to being the most white and most male cabinet since Reagan, a fact that has been brought to light multiple times since the nominations, the combined estimated worth of the cabinet clocks in at around ten billion dollars. This amount of wealth in one place, tasked with acting in the best interests of a much poorer public, comes with a host of issues. Not only does it point to a vast disparity in the challenges faced by billionaires and the common people, but also problems with private business interests. The wealthy in power are most certainly inclined to have their own interests in mind when making decisions that will affect the nation.