WASHINGTON — Education Secretary-nominee Betsy DeVos has pledged to divest her interests in more than 100 companies and has resigned positions with school choice advocacy groups to avoid possible conflicts of interest, according to documents released Friday by the Office of Government Ethics.
Democrats said they still needed more information, and Friday night the Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee announced it was delaying a vote on her nomination until Jan. 31, a week later than planned. The committee says the postponement was to give members more time to review DeVos’ financial and ethical disclosures.
At her confirmation hearing earlier this week, DeVos faced tough questions regarding her contributions to the Republican Party, her support of charter schools, her views on LGBT rights, sexual assault and other matters. She was also asked to submit answers to written questions.
In the ethics documents, DeVos, a wealthy Republican donor and school choice activist, pledged to divest her interests in the companies within 90 days of her confirmation.