--- title: Betsy DeVos: Confirmation Hearing Postponed for a Week description: The confirmation hearings for Betsy DeVos—President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for education secretary—have been postponed a week canonical: https://time.com/4630027/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing-postponed/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-01-10T15:29:10.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:45.565Z article:section: Politics og:title: Senate Postpones Confirmation Hearing for Education Secretary Nominee Betsy DeVos og:description: The new date follows Democratic complaints about her unfinished ethics review og:url: https://time.com/4630027/betsy-devos-confirmation-hearing-postponed/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ba436ede5f6c049/6988b4f08e06015fe1468c29/betsy-devos-confirmation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: Senate Majority Leader McConnell Meets With President-Elect Trumps Pick For Secretary Of Education Betsy DeVos og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Senate Postpones Confirmation Hearing for Education Secretary Nominee Betsy DeVos twitter:description: The new date follows Democratic complaints about her unfinished ethics review twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9ba436ede5f6c049/6988b4f08e06015fe1468c29/betsy-devos-confirmation.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Senate Postpones Confirmation Hearing for Education Secretary Nominee Betsy DeVos > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Trump's Staff Selection Hearings [Watch (HLS stream): Trump's Staff Selection Hearings](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/15iL9L9v.m3u8) (1:26)  _Published 2017-01-09. Several of Donald Trump's staff selections will begin to undergo Senate confirmation hearings in the final days leading up to the president-elect's inauguration._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 10, 2017 3:29 PM UTC  Betsy DeVos, secretary of education pick for President-elect Donald Trump, sits while meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, not pictured, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2016. Betsy DeVos, secretary of education pick for President-elect Donald Trump, sits while meeting with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Republican from Kentucky, not pictured, at the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 1, 2016. Andrew Harrer—Bloomberg/Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 10, 2017 3:29 PM UTC The confirmation hearings for [Betsy DeVos](http://time.com/4606096/betsy-devos-schoolyard-rebel/)—President-elect [Donald Trump’s nominee](http://time.com/4629821/donald-trump-cabinet-picks-senate-confirmation/) for education secretary—have been postponed a week, rescheduled for Jan. 17 amid complaints from Democrats that more time is needed to complete her ethics review. The Office of Government Ethics [voiced concerns last week](http://time.com/4627342/ethics-office-donald-trump-nominee-concerns/) about the scheduled hearings for several nominees who have not yet completed the ethics review process. On Saturday, the [Washington _Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/democrats-seek-to-delay-confirmation-hearing-for-betsy-devos-citing-unfinished-ethics-review/2017/01/07/ddc640e8-d50b-11e6-9cb0-54ab630851e8%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.0ba0900fb870) that DeVos was one of those nominees, due to the work involved in reviewing her considerable financial holdings for any potential conflicts of interest. DeVos’ hearing had originally been scheduled to take place Wednesday morning. In announcing the postponed hearing, the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions did not mention the concerns raised by the ethics office and some Senate Democrats. They said the change came “at the request of the Senate leadership to accommodate the Senate schedule,” the [_Post_ reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/senate-postpones-confirmation-hearing-for-betsy-devos-trumps-education-pick/2017/01/09/be0ea7cc-d6e6-11e6-9a36-1d296534b31e%5Fstory.html?utm%5Fterm=.018c253ecd2b). “Betsy DeVos is an outstanding nominee who has complied with all of the committee’s requirements and no one doubts that she will be confirmed as Education Secretary,” said an aide to committee chairman Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, according to the _Post_. “This hearing delay is simply to accommodate the Senate schedule.” ## Transcript [ BLANK_AUDIO ] I think they'll all pass. I think every nomination will be, they're all at the highest level. 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