There hasn t been talk about withdrawing andy puzder s nomination for labor secretary but they ve pushed his hearing date back four strait times now. the last time they pushed it back they didn t bother to set out a new date. and nbc can report tonight andy puzder has not turned in any of his paperwork. any documentation. he hasn t turned in any of the paper that is the bare minimum stuff you need to start your confirmation process. they apparently don t even have an fbi background check on him yet. you sure you re going to keep that guy? you sure you want to go through this process? democrats have focused withering attention on the education secretary nominee, betsy devos. you saw the signs at the protests we ve been covering, the signs focusing on what a bad pick she would be for education. the focus, the pushback, the questioning of her at her confirmation hearing revealed a nominee who was not ready for prime time. were you unaware what i just asked you about the i.d.ea. that it was a federal law?
There s a democratic president and democratic majority in the senate that does not rise to 60 votes, so the flip of what we have now the republicans would force the democrats to go that route because what they did last year was much more radical than that and that wasn t just one event, right? mitch mcconnell has shown again and again and again that he believes in this kind of opposition and that he brought the republican party along so give than i seems to democrats presumption should be to say to the remembers look you broke these rules, now live up to what you ve broken and change the rules on the filibuster. jonathan chat, one of the best political journalists out there today has a smart piece about this in new york magazine where he says the idea that the democrats could save the forcing of this think buster until next time is naive. there s no reason it will be more powerful if they don t use it now and they do use it later. that feels right to me but i m not saying they need to do that.
The idea of a 60-vote threshold has helped presidents not put out judges out of the mainstream but put people that were. barack obama with merrick garland could have put a very liberal judge up but he didn t. he put somebody up that could appeal to moderate republicans that could have met that 60-vote threshold should he been allowed to get a hearing and an up or down vote on the senate floor. so there s something good about for a supreme court justice to have that 60-vote threshold to put people up that are not far right or left but that can modetehe passions perhaps of the country and get somebody that is within the mainstream. can you imagine president trump nominating somebody for the supreme court who you would vote for? well first of all let s understand what donald trump is doing. he s picking somebody way out of the mainstream and then he s bullying the republicans in the senate, literally calling them to do the nuclear option, do the nuclear option. that to me is one branch of government shoving around the other branch of government and
Questioning of her at her confirmation hearing revealed a nominee who was not ready for prime time. were you unaware what i just asked you about the. i d.ea. that it was a federal law? i may have confused it. if confirmed will you insist upon that equal accountability in any, can 12 school or program that receives federal funding whether public, public charter or private? i support accountability. equal accountability for all schools that receive federal funding? i support accountability. is that a yes or a no. that s a i support accountability. do you not want to answer my question i support accountability. you can t say definitively today that guns shouldn t be in schools. well, i will refer back to senator enzi and the school that he was talking about in wyoming. i think probably there i would imagine that there s probably a gun in the school to protect from from potential
The signs focusing on what a bad pick she would be for education. the focus, the pushback, the questioning of her at her confirmation hearing revealed a nominee who was not ready for prime time. were you unaware what i just asked you about the i.d.ea. that it was a federal law? i may have confused it. if confirmed will you insist upon that equal accountability in any, can 12 school or program that receives federal funding whether public, public charter or private? i support accountability. equal accountability for all schools that receive federal funding? i support accountability. is that a yes or a no. that s a i support accountability. do you not want to answer my question? i support accountability. you can t say definitively today that guns shouldn t be in schools. well, i will refer back to senator enzi and the school that he was talking about in wyoming. i think probably there i would imagine that there s probably a gun in the school to
should all schools that receive if schools taxpayer fund being required to meet the requirements of the individuals with disabilities in education? i think that s a matter best left to the states. so some states might be good to kids with disabilities and other states might not so good and then what? people can just move around the country if they don t like how their kids are being treated? i think that s an issue that s best left to the states. i want to go back to the individuals with disabilities in education act. that s a federal civil rights law so do you stand by your statement a few minutes ago that it should be up to the states whether to follow it? the law must be followed federal law must be followed where federal dollars are in play. so were you unaware what i just asked you about the idea, that it was a federal law? i may have confused it. i do have to say, i m concerned that you seem so unfamiliar with it. joining me now, senator maggie hassan of new hampshire, member of the senate committee on health, education, labor and
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Pensions. senator, what was your impression of what this nominee does and doesn t know about this fairly significant landmark piece of civil rights education. chris, it s nice to be with you tonight. you know, education and access to quality education for all our kids is really the foundation of our democracy. in my family, that includes making sure that both of my children, including making sure both of my children had access to quality education and our now adult son ben happens to have very severe and pervasive physical disabilities. ben doesn t speak, he can t use his fingers to access a keyboard but he s very cognitively able and because of the provisions of the. i d.ea. the individuals with disabilities education act he had access in our community to learn and graduate from high school. and that s the kind of opportunity we all want for all
Children what i was trying to get at when i talked with ms. devos at the hearing was my concern about the fact that the voucher programs that she had supported made children with disabilities if they were to receive a voucher like kids without disabilities do it made those kids sign away their rights under the i.d.e.a. so i thought it was very important to get her perspective on why she thought that was okay and whether she would, as secretary of education, the country s top education officer charged with making sure that all of our kids have access to free, appropriate public education so that they can thrive and participate in the 21st century, be the work force we need.
Member of the senate committee on health, education, labor and pensions. senator, what was your impression of what this nominee does and doesn t know about this fairly significant landmark piece of civil rights education. chris, it s nice to be with you tonight. you know, education and access to quality education for all our kids is really the foundation of our democracy. in my family, that includes making sure that both of my children, including making sure both of my children had access to quality education and our now adult son ben happens to have very severe and pervasive physical disabilities. ben doesn t speak, he can t use his fingers to access a keyboard but he s very cognitively able and because of the provisions of th i. i d.ea. the individuals with disabilities education act he had access in our community to learn and graduate from high