Education nomination advances to full Senate


              FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2017, file photo, Education Secretary-nominee Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are muscling more of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees to the cusp of Senate confirmation over Democratic objections, with committees poised to advance his picks to head agencies in the thick of partisan battles over health care, legal protections, education and the economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)
FILE - In this Jan. 17, 2017, file photo, Education Secretary-nominee Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington. Republicans are muscling more of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet nominees to the cusp of Senate confirmation over Democratic objections, with committees poised to advance his picks to head agencies in the thick of partisan battles over health care, legal protections, education and the economy. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

WASHINGTON - A Senate committee has approved Republican donor and school choice advocate Betsy DeVos for education secretary, even as two GOP senators expressed some reservations.

After a heated debate Tuesday morning, senators on the Health, Education, Pensions and Labor Committee have voted 12-11 along partisan lines to support DeVos' nomination, sending it to the full Senate for action.

But two prominent Republicans on the committee, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, are expressing their skepticism over DeVos. They say they are not yet sure whether they will vote for her on the Senate floor.

Murkowski says DeVos has yet to prove that she deeply cares about America's struggling schools and its children. Murkowski says the nominee has not yet earned her full support.

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