Pence Breaks Senate Tie to Confirm DeVos as Education Secretary
- Senate was evenly split on Trump nomination of Betsy DeVos
- Pence is first vice president break tie on Cabinet nomination
Pence Breaks Tie to Confirm DeVos as Education Secretary
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Betsy DeVos squeaked through a history-making Senate confirmation vote to become U.S. education secretary, as Vice President Mike Pence a 50-50 tie and Republicans staved off last-minute defections that would have killed her nomination.
The 51-50 nail-biter Tuesday was the first test of Democrats’ ability to thwart President Donald Trump’s agenda. Two Senate Republicans joined them in opposing DeVos, a longtime GOP donor, but Democrats needed one more. Pence is the first U.S. vice president ever to cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm a Cabinet member.