DeVos may have copied some questionnaire answers: report

President Trump’s pick for secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos, may have copied parts of her written answers to a list of questions from senators, The Washington Post reports.

Several lines and phrases in the questionnaire appear to be lifted from other sources without attribution, including a news release from a Justice Department official during the Obama administration.

For example, in response to a question about preventing bullying of LGBTQ students in schools, DeVos wrote: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment where they can learn, thrive, and grow.”

{mosads}Vanita Gupta, who ran the DOJ’s Civil Rights division under Obama, wrote in a news release last year: “Every child deserves to attend school in a safe, supportive environment that allows them to thrive and grow.”

In another written response to a question about publishing a list of schools under civil rights investigations, Devos wrote: “Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has made a determination about the merits of the complaint.”

Her answer is almost identical to a sentence on a Department of Education website, which says, “Opening a complaint for investigation in no way implies that OCR has made a determination with regard to the merits of the complaint.”

Other lines appear to directly quote federal statutes, but do not attribute the language to the laws, the Post reports.

DeVos has emerged as one of Trump’s most controversial Cabinet nominees. Democrats have vowed to do everything in their power to block her confirmation.

Senate Democrats have expressed concern over DeVos’s longtime advocacy for taxpayer-funded school vouchers and school privatization. She is also a Republican mega-donor with close financial ties to the education industry.

Republicans have stood behind her nomination, and she is expected to be confirmed.