DeVos nomination stands at 50-50 It could come down to Vice President Mike Pence, in what would be a history-making confirmation vote. 
 
 Betsy DeVos has no votes to spare heading into a looming confirmation vote next week. 
 
 Republican Sens. Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski said Wednesday they will vote against the Education Department nominee. That could very well mean a 50-50 standoff on the Senate floor — and Vice President Mike Pence being called in to put DeVos over the top. Republicans have a 52-48 majority, and no Democrats are expected to support the prospective education chief. 
 
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 Senior leadership aides are confident DeVos will prevail in a likely floor vote Monday. After Collins and Murkowski announced their opposition Wednesday, a wave of undecided GOP senators broke DeVos' way. 
 
 “Due to her commitment to improve our nation’s school system for all students and her focus on increasing parental engagement, I am supporting Betsy DeVos as our nation’s next secretary of education," Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), who was seen as the final potential swing vote, said late Wednesday afternoon. "I believe Betsy DeVos is the right choice for this position." 
 
 If Pence is enlisted to break a tie, it would be the first time a vice president ensured the confirmation of a Cabinet nominee. 
 
 The back-to-back announcements by Collins and Murkowski created several hours of drama on Wednesday, raising liberals' hopes of sinking a Trump nominee. 
 
 "This is not a decision I make lightly. I have a great deal of respect for Mrs. DeVos," Collins said on the floor on Wednesday. "I will not, cannot vote to confirm her." 
 
 Several Republicans, including Rob Portman of Ohio and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, began breaking "yes" for DeVos after Murkowski and Collins came out against her. Heller is up for reelection in 2018 and is viewed by Democrats as the most vulnerable GOP incumbent. 
 
 Now, if Republicans are able to make sure they don't have attendance problems, DeVos is likely to be confirmed on Monday. 
 
 In an interview, Collins said she will allow DeVos to advance to a final vote, before opposing her. Likewise, Murkowski said she will oppose DeVos on final passage, a shocking rebellion against President Donald Trump that rippled through the Capitol. 
 
 “I have heard from thousands, truly, thousands of Alaskans who have shared their concerns about Mrs. DeVos," Murkowski said. "I do not intend to vote on final passage to support Mrs. DeVos." 
 
 DeVos, a GOP megadonor and education advocate who has long pushed for charter schools and K-12 tuition vouchers using public funds, has encountered criticism from both parties since Trump nominated her. 
 
 Both Republicans have expressed concerns about her support for voucher programs, which were emphasized in Trump’s $20 billion school choice proposal rolled out on the campaign trail. DeVos has drawn bipartisan criticism for her views on education, though Republicans have been working to usher her through. 
 
 Republicans said privately that Collins and Murkowski waited to announce their opposition once the rest of the votes for DeVos were locked up. They said the rest of the GOP is firmly behind DeVos. 
 
 "She has the votes and will be confirmed," said a senior GOP aide. 
 
 Both Collins and Murkowski supported DeVos in a committee hearing on Tuesday, saying they did not want to block the full Senate from having its say. Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), who heads the Senate committee that works on education issues, thanked Collins and Murkowski for not obstructing the process. Alexander defended DeVos on the Senate floor, saying she will be an "excellent education secretary." 
 
 "I believe we are going to confirm her," Alexander said in an interview. He said Collins and Murkowski were "being consistent." They had opposed DeVos' nomination but "wanted to let all senators vote on this nomination." Both Republicans routinely helped advance President Barack Obama's nominations, as well. 
 
 "They are being institutionalists, in my opinion. This is how the Senate used to work," Alexander said. 
 
 The margin for DeVos narrowed significantly after Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he will oppose DeVos. Manchin has been mostly supportive of Trump's nominees but said DeVos has shown a lack of understanding for public schools. 
 
 “Betsy DeVos has never attended or worked in a public school. The needs facing rural schools in West Virginia are unique and her lack of exposure to public education is very concerning for me," Manchin said. "Every child in West Virginia deserves a quality education and I do not believe that Betsy DeVos is qualified to serve in this role, which is so vital to the future of our state.” 
 
 A DeVos adviser said administration officials are still sure DeVos can hold the rest of the GOP together. 
 
 "Who else are they going to peel? I don't think they can peel anyone else,” the adviser said. “I have a pretty high level of confidence that she's going to get through.” 
 
 White House spokesman Sean Spicer was more adamant, declaring Wednesday he is "100 percent confident she will be the next secretary of education." 
 
 The Senate began voting to advance DeVos' nomination on Wednesday afternoon, but the real show will be her final confirmation vote. Democrats are doing everything they can to delay the confirmation and encourage voters to call their senators and urge them to oppose her. 
 
 Democrats were unhappy with DeVos from the start. But her lackluster performance at her confirmation hearing, in which she seemed confused by federal special education law and referenced a Wyoming school with a grizzly bear problem when asked about gun policy, made her a social media sensation and help galvanize the opposition. 
 
 Both Republican and Democratic senators say they've been flooded with thousands of phone calls, emails and letters related to DeVos’ nomination — mostly in opposition. 
 
 Seung Min Kim, Josh Dawsey and John Bresnahan contributed to this report. 
 
 

 Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsSenate Gang of Four to meet next week on immigration Republicans agree — it’s only a matter of time for Scott Pruitt Skyrocketing insulin prices provoke new outrage MORE (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiIcebreaking ships are not America’s top priority in the Arctic 13 GOP senators ask administration to pause separation of immigrant families Trump plan to claw back billion in spending in peril MORE (Alaska) in dramatic back-to-back speeches Wednesday said they would oppose confirming Betsy DeVos as Education secretary. 
 
 The two became the first Republican senators to break with any of President Trump’s Cabinet picks. 
 
 The defections set up a potential 51-50 vote in the Senate to confirm DeVos, with Vice President Pence breaking the tie. 
 
 It would be the first time a vice president has been the deciding vote on a nomination, and the first time a vice president has had to break a Senate tie since March 2008, when Vice President Dick Cheney cast a deciding vote on a package of tax cuts. 
 
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 DeVos’s nomination will move before Sen.’s nod as attorney general to ensure that the Alabama Republican can cast a vote for Trump’s Education pick. 
 
 The Senate could take a final vote on DeVos as soon as Friday, though Democrats are expected to use the Senate’s procedural roadblocks to drag the fight over DeVos into the weekend or early next week. 
 
 Republicans expressed confidence that there will be no more defections. They can’t afford any, as no Democrats are set to back DeVos. 
 
 “I expect her to be confirmed,” Sen. John Cornyn John CornynSenate moving ahead with border bill, despite Trump GOP senators introduce bill to prevent family separations at border Senate GOP tries to defuse Trump border crisis MORE (R-Texas) told reporters. “You can take that to the bank.” 
 
 The White House also said it has “zero” concern over DeVos’s nomination being in jeopardy. 
 
 “I have 100 percent confidence she will be the next secretary of Education,” White House press secretary Sean Spicer said at his daily briefing with reporters. 
 
 He added, “The games being played with Betsy DeVos are sad.” 
 
 DeVos, a GOP mega-donor long active on education issues, has been the subject of fierce opposition from teachers unions and other liberal groups opposed to her support for charter schools and tuition vouchers using public funds. Senators in both parties have also criticized her lack of experience with public and rural education. 
 
 Liberals made DeVos a top target and sought to jam Republican phone lines with protests over her nomination. Credo Action’s vice president and political director, Murshed Zaheed, told The Hill that its members made 18,000 calls to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, including specifically targeting Collins, Murkowski and Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulGOP senators call for probe of federal grants on climate change Overnight Health Care — Presented by the Association of American Medical Colleges — Key ObamaCare groups in limbo | Opioids sending thousands of kids into foster care | House passes bill allowing Medicaid to pay for opioid treatments US watchdog: 'We failed' to stem Afghan opium production MORE (R-Ky.). 
 
 Murkowski noted that her office had been flooded with calls urging her to oppose DeVos. 
 
 “I have heard from thousands, truly thousands, of Alaskans who shared their concerns,” she said from the Senate floor. 
 
 Both Collins and Murkowski stressed that they did not make their decision lightly and vouched for DeVos’s personal character, but stressed they ultimately could not support her. 
 
 “I come to the floor to announce a very difficult decision that I have made, and that is to vote against the confirmation of Betsy DeVos to be our nation’s next secretary of Education,” Collins said. 
 
 Murkowski followed Collins to the floor, stating, “I have serious concerns about a nominee to be secretary of Education ... who has been so immersed in the discussion of vouchers.” 
 
 Progressive groups quickly claimed momentum in the fight. 
 
 “Betsy DeVos is an enemy of public schools who would let corporations control our children’s education: that’s why there’s a growing bipartisan opposition to her confirmation,” American Bridge, a liberal super PAC, said in a statement. 
 
 Every Voice President David Donnelly and End Citizens United Executive Director Tiffany Muller added in a joint statement that Murkowski and Collins’s opposition was a “victory for the grassroots power of the American people.” 
 
 DeVos’s troubles come as tensions boil over the pace of confirmations. 
 
 Republicans on the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday changed the rules requiring at least one member of each party to be present so that they could advance Steven Mnuchin to head the Treasury Department and Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.) as secretary of Health and Human Services. 
 
 The Senate managed to confirm Rex Tillerson to be Trump’s secretary of State, but only after Democrats used the Senate’s procedural hurdle to drag out debate over his nomination for days. 
 
 Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellPolitical figures pay tribute to Charles Krauthammer Charles Krauthammer dies at the age of 68 Overnight Energy: EPA declines to write new rule for toxic spills | Senate blocks move to stop Obama water rule | EPA bought 'tactical' pants and polos MORE (R-Ky.) blasted Democrats over their tactics this week, telling reporters, “It is time to get over the fact that they lost the election.” 
 
 DeVos came under fire from Democrats this week over a Washington Post report that several lines and phrases in her committee-submitted questionnaire appeared to be lifted without attribution from other sources, including a news release from a Justice Department official during the Obama administration. 
 
 She also endured a rocky confirmation hearing in which she at one point appeared to advocate for guns in school because of the possibility of a grizzly bear attack, at least in Wyoming. 
 
 Collins pointed specifically to DeVos’s lack of knowledge about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act in explaining her decision. 
 
 “While it is unrealistic and unfair to expect a nominee to know the details of all the programs under the jurisdiction of the Department of Education, I am troubled and surprised by Mrs. ­DeVos’ apparent lack of familiarity with the landmark 1975 law, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, known as IDEA,” she said. 
 
 DeVos came under fire on the law during her hearing, when she faced sharp questions from Sen. Maggie Hassan, whose son is disabled. 
 
 When DeVos told the New Hampshire Democrat that she was “sensitive to the needs of special needs students,” Hassan fired back: “With all due respect, it’s not about sensitivity, although that helps.” 
 
 Sen. Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) ManchinThe Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by PhRMA — Trump caves under immense pressure — what now? Election Countdown: Family separation policy may haunt GOP in November | Why Republican candidates are bracing for surprises | House Dems rake in record May haul | 'Dumpster fire' ad goes viral Manchin up 9 points over GOP challenger in W.Va. Senate race MORE (D-W.Va.), a vulnerable red-state Democrat up for reelection in 2018, announced he would not support DeVos on Wednesday, saying her “lack of exposure to public education is very concerning for me.” 
 
 Another GOP defection appears unlikely, however, as Sen. Dean Heller Dean Arthur HellerThe Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by PhRMA — GOP lawmakers race to find an immigration fix 13 GOP senators ask administration to pause separation of immigrant families The Hill's Morning Report — Sponsored by PhRMA — Defiant Trump meets with House GOP amid border blowback MORE (R-Nev.), a top Democratic target in 2018, announced he would vote to confirm her. 
 
 “Due to her commitment to improve our nation’s school system for all students and her focus on increasing parental engagement, I am supporting Betsy DeVos as our nation’s next Secretary of Education,” Heller said in a statement. 
 
 Updated at 8:18 p.m.
– Betsy DeVos' confirmation vote in the Senate Wednesday will be tight: Two Republican senators announced Wednesday that they will oppose DeVos' nomination to be secretary of Education. Assuming all of the Senate's 48 Democrats also oppose DeVos, that means she'd have 50 yes votes and 50 no votes if no other Republicans oppose her, with Vice President Mike Pence potentially breaking the tie, the Hill reports. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine was the first to announce on the Senate floor that she would vote against DeVos, making her the first Republican to oppose one of President Trump's cabinet nominees. Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska was the second to announce she would vote no. Collins said it was a "very difficult decision," but that she was "troubled and surprised" by DeVos' lack of familiarity with the Individuals With Disabilities Education Act. Murkowski said she had "serious concerns" about DeVos, and that "thousands, truly thousands" of her constituents had called her expressing their own concerns. Both Collins and Murkowski expressed concerns with DeVos' support for school voucher programs, Politico reports. In order to avoid using Pence as a tie-breaker, Republicans would need to flip at least one Democrat up for re-election in a red state next year—and Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia, seen as one of the most vulnerable Dems in such a position, also said Wednesday he would vote against DeVos.