Up to five Democrat lead congressional committees to investigate Betsy DeVos
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https://www.politico.com/story/2018/11/24/betsy-devos-education-house-democrats-1012544
For two years, Democrats watched with fury as Education Secretary Betsy DeVos sought to dismantle nearly every significant Obama administration education policy.
Now, they’re gearing up to fight back. Lots of them.
As many as five Democratic-led House committees next year could take on DeVos over a range of issues such as her rollback of regulations aimed at predatory for-profit colleges, the
stalled processing of student loan forgiveness and a rewrite of campus sexual assault policies.
“Betsy DeVos has brought a special mix of incompetence and malevolence to Washington — and that’s rocket fuel for every committee in a new Congress that will finally provide
oversight,” said Seth Frotman, who resigned as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s top student loan official earlier in protest of Trump administration policies likely to be
examined by Democrats.
Rep. Mark Takano, expected to lead the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, told POLITICO that he will be tracking the effect of decisions to scale back Obama-era regulations aimed at
curbing abuses by for-profit colleges that enroll tens of thousands of veterans each year. “I want to examine the extent to which her rollbacks of regulations negatively impact
veterans,” said the California Democrat.
DeVos will be squarely in the sights of the House education committee, where Rep. Bobby Scott (D-Va.) is poised to become chairman. Scott, who has criticized nearly every DeVos
policy during the last two years, has vowed to act as a check on the Trump administration Education Department.
Another gavel-wielding DeVos antagonist is likely to be Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is in line to lead the Appropriations subcommittee overseeing education funding.
The panel’s oversight work, DeLauro said, will focus on ways to “hold Secretary DeVos accountable for her agency’s failure to uphold federal protections for our students.”
DeVos will also find a powerful opponent in Rep. Maxine Waters, the presumptive chairwoman of the Financial Services Committee and liberal firebrand whose jousts with Trump have
raised her national profile. Waters (D-Calif.) earlier this month accused DeVos of a “full-on attack on civil rights protections for students—particularly students of color, students with
disabilities, transgender students, and survivors of sexual assault.”
The House Oversight Committee could take on DeVos as well. Rep. Elijah Cummings, (D-Md.), the presumptive chairman, conducted an investigation of CEO pay at for-profit schools
during the Obama administration. And this past year, he and Scott expressed concern over DeVos’ treatment of the union that represents her agency’s employees.
"Now lets not get carried away." -says the increasingly worried GOP House member.
Hope they pin her on conflict of interest along with getting those rolled back DoE protections and student loan forgiveness back.
still ridiculous that someone with NO teaching experience was even appointed to this position
Like the EPA Republicans are simply ideologically opposed to the Department of Education and the idea that the government should have a role in education.
This is by design, it's called regulatory capture. The same thing happened to the EPA and FCC.
Her family literally paid off the GOP to give her that position.
The well educated tend to vote more liberal, which is why most states that rank poorly are in deep conservative states. Trying to make college as inaccessible as possible is how conservatives can stay in power.
Don't forget about how right-wing media actively attacks colleges as a way to dissuade young conservatives from even attending by making them seem like hostile spaces that will take their money for a useless degree and a lifetime of debt. It's a vicious cycle.
Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)
It's incredibly short sighted and does nothing but harm the country in the long run.
Yes it is. And no, they don't care.
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