Betsy DeVos doesn’t want to deal with the issue of guns in schools

Betsy DeVos seems to think a lot of her job’s duties don’t actually belong to her.

The secretary of education went before the House Committee on Appropriations on Tuesday morning to talk about the budget for the 2019 fiscal year, but she ended up deflecting many questions by referring the committee to other parties, including Congress, President Trump, and other Department representatives in the room.

When Chairman Tom Cole asked a series of questions regarding cuts to certain programs in areas that DeVos hasn’t visited, she dodged them by calling on another member from her Department, William Cordes, to respond. The Department is calling for a $3.7 billion cut to its budget.

Much of DeVos’ responses pinned responsibility to people outside the room, especially regarding the contentious guns-in-school discussion. Which was surprising considering DeVos is slated to lead the Commission on School Safety, which she said will convene "very soon, within the next few weeks." She’ll be joined by three other Cabinet secretaries: Health and Human Services, Justice, and Homeland Security.

During the hearing, DeVos attributed the size and exclusivity of the commission to it being an "urgent" matter, and thus wanting to avoid “bureaucracy.” But then she declined to answer questions on the issue. When Democratic committee member Rosa DeLauro cited that 75 percent of teachers and 60 percent of parents nationwide support a national ban on guns in schools and then asked DeVos whether she’d reconsider her stance on such a ban, the secretary responded, “That is a matter for Congress to decide, not for the Secretary of Education to decide.”

She also deferred to the president: When asked point-blank by committee member Mark Pocan about whether she supports raising the age for gun purchases to 21, DeVos responded, "The president has indicated support for that. I think it's an important issue for this body to deal with. I would like to think that this body and Congress can go ahead and get progress on some of the things that are broadly supported and I encourage, and the president has certainly encouraged that."

When Pocan pressed her twice consecutively, she continuously began statements with “The president has,” and filling in each with a perspective of Trump’s – not her own. When he called her out for having no answer, she simply said it was “an important discussion for this chamber to have.”

Echoing comments she made in a recent “60 Minutes” interview, DeVos in the hearing emphasized her desire to decrease the federal footprint on the guns-in-school issue and have local officials handle it. “Every state and every community is going to address this issue in a different way,” she said.

When pressed by members of the Committee on several national stats – including parent and teacher support of a ban, recent incidents of accidental shootings by armed teachers, and the heightened risk that guns in schools disproportionately targets black and brown students – the secretary only continued to make general statements that diverted from the nature of the questions.

The clearest stance DeVos gave was a soft redaction of a much-mocked statement she made during a debate in January 2017, when she cited grizzly bears as a reason to arm public school personnel. “I would imagine that there’s probably a gun in the school to protect from potential grizzlies,” she said then.

“If I had to do it over today,” she clarified Tuesday morning, “I probably would have used a different example. The point was if there's going to be guns in schools, they need to be in the hands of the right people.”

Christianna Silva contributed reporting.