Sen. Reed: Betsy DeVos 'Flunked Her Confirmation Hiring'

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) — U.S. Sen. Jack Reed is planning to vote against President Donald Trump's nominee for education secretary.

Reed said in a statement Friday that Betsy DeVos "flunked her confirmation hearing and is not the right person for the job."

The Rhode Island Democrat also said the education secretary should be a champion for all children and not someone like DeVos who he said helped reduce school oversight and accountability in Michigan and promoted the diversion of taxpayer dollars toward private schools.

Trump has called DeVos "a brilliant and passionate education advocate."

Reed also said that given DeVos's ties to for-profit education companies that will be directly impacted by Department of Education decisions it's hard to see how she could untangle herself from what he described as "a thick web of conflicts."