Senate committee approves DeVos nomination

By Lisa Hagen - 01/31/17 11:45 AM EST

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on Tuesday morning approved Betsy DeVos’s nomination to lead the Department of Education.

DeVos was confirmed 12-11 along party lines. Her nomination will now go to the Senate floor, where she’ll need only need a simple majority to be confirmed.

Senate Democrats objected to the first vote, arguing that the tally was actually 11-11 because Sen. Orrin HatchOrrin Hatch Overnight Healthcare: GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it | HHS pick advances after rules change Overnight Finance: GOP advances Treasury nominee | Vote on Trump budget pick delayed | Fed keeps rates steady | Border tax sets off lobbying frenzy GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it MORE (R-Utah) voted by proxy.

Ranking member Patty MurrayPatty Murray Health chair: Congress may have to aid insurers during ObamaCare transition Warren offers to wager fate of DeVos nomination on Super Bowl Senate committee approves DeVos nomination MORE (D-Wash.) submitted a motion to overturn HELP Chairman Lamar AlexanderLamar Alexander Overnight Healthcare: GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it | HHS pick advances after rules change GOP talk shifts from replacing ObamaCare to repairing it Health chair: Congress may have to aid insurers during ObamaCare transition MORE’s (R-Tenn.) ruling to uphold the vote, but the motion was denied along party lines.

Alexander called another vote to approve DeVos’s nomination with Hatch present and it was advanced, 12-11.

The billionaire GOP donor faced a contentious hearing earlier this month, when Senate Democrats questioned her commitment to public education and grilled her on her conflicts of interest.

DeVos stumbled on some questions, notably when Sen. Al Franken

Al Franken Franken slams Cruz for ‘trying to impugn’ his record Manchin says he will vote against DeVos Two GOP senators still undecided on final DeVos vote MORE (D-Minn.) asked her about a contentious debate within education policy circles.

But Republicans on the committee praised her education credentials, though one GOP senator expressed skepticism about DeVos.

While she voted to approve DeVos in committee, Sen. Lisa MurkowskiLisa Murkowski Scarborough: GOP defections on DeVos show confirmation hearings matter White House has '100 percent confidence' in DeVos confirmation Second Republican senator to vote against DeVos MORE (R-Alaska) said she’s still unsure how she’ll vote when the nomination comes to the Senate floor.

But Republicans can afford a defection with a 52-seat Senate majority.

“Do note, she has not yet earned my full support,” Murkowski said during Tuesday’s hearing. “I would not advise yet that she count on my vote.”

Murkoswki's office is one of several that's been targeted by outside groups opposing the nomination and hoping to sway enough Republicans to vote against DeVos.

The executive session for the HELP Committee had been postponed one week, giving senators more time to review DeVos’s letter to the Office of Government Ethics in which she outlined how to avoid conflicts of interest.

Democrats repeatedly asked for a second round of questioning at her hearing, but Alexander denied the request and only gave himself and Murray additional time.

Senate Democrats pushed for a second hearing, writing in a letter to Alexander that they were “extremely disappointed” by the first one. The Tennessee Republican rejected holding another hearing.

In the days leading up to the hearing, Franken said that no Democrats would vote for DeVos and liberal groups jammed senators’ phone lines with thousands of calls urging them to oppose her nomination.

But, so far, no firm Republican defections have materialized.

Updated 12:40 p.m.