The Senate battle to confirm secretary of education nominee Betsy DeVos is coming down to the wire, with the legislative body split on whether to vote her into President Donald Trump's Cabinet.
Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said Tuesday the vote is at its "50-50 moment."
"The point is we're at a 50-50 moment where we only need one more senator to break and vote against Betsy DeVos and she won't be confirmed, and so we want to make our argument up until the last minute to see if we can get that 51st vote," Murphy said during an appearance on CNN.
Two Republican senators — Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Susan Collins (Maine) — do not support DeVos and will not vote for her Tuesday. That means the vote will be split at 50-50, unless another Republican defects.
Vice President Mike Pence can break the tie by voting for DeVos.
Murphy told CNN he believes DeVos lacks the proper knowledge of federal disability laws as they relate to students, and he doesn't think she has the "compassion" to serve in the Cabinet.
"You put those two things together, lack of compassion for what's happened to places like Sandy Hook and an inability to just understand the basic law around vulnerable students and it was clear at the end of that hearing that this was someone who shouldn't be the secretary of education," Murphy said.
Senate Democrats pulled an all-nighter on the eve of DeVos' confirmation vote as they tried to create more opposition to her nomination.
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