Betsy Devos: School safety commission to consist of four Cabinet secretaries, no Democrats

The Trump administration’s commission to examine school safety in the aftermath of the Parkland, Fla., school shooting will consist of just four people — all Cabinet secretaries — and no Democrats.

 

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Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, testifying at a congressional hearing Tuesday, said the commission would be comprised of herself, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar, Department of Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

She said it would meet for the first time “within the next few weeks,” but did not commit to a start date or an end date for the commission completing its work. 

 

“We will be inviting and having forums and meetings with a wide variety of expert,” DeVos said when Rep. Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) pressed her on the commission’s lack of experts or Democrats. 

 

The commission was announced after the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting in February, in which a former student is charged with shooting and killing 17 people. 

 

During the hearing, DeVos was frequently grilled on her position on gun violence.

 

When Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) pressed DeVos on whether she backed raising the minimum purchase age for some guns to 21, she repeatedly responded that President Trump had offered his support but did not offer her own view. 

 

She also told Pocan that she was not a member of the National Rifle Association and walked back earlier controversial comments that schools should be allowed to keep guns in case of attacks by grizzly bears.

 

“I probably would have used a different example,” she said of the comment made last year.