Noticeably absent from the hearing were substantive discussions of the Common Core standards, which Trump has lambasted; how DeVos would handle racial inequity and school segregation, which have been priorities of the Obama administration; and issues around standardized testing, accreditation, and for-profit schools. She offered little clarity around her views on higher education and early-childhood education, broadly. But she did push back at the idea that college is the only pathway to success, and indicated that she would support vocational schools and career-training programs—a nod to Trump’s voter base.

The evasion tactics (which nominees of both parties have employed for as long as confirmation hearings have been a thing) left Democratic members of the committee calling for more hearings. The convening was more intense than most hearings in recent memory involving nominees for education secretary in part because DeVos is an unusual nominee. She and her family have vast financial holdings, and she is the first of Trump’s nominees to go through the hearing process without a signed ethics agreement in place for how she plans to resolve any conflicts of interest.

While the prominent Republican donor faced critical questions about those holdings and other education issues from senators such as Elizabeth Warren and Tim Kaine, she also received praise from Republicans, such as from the former education secretary Senator Lamar Alexander, who think Washington has overstepped its reach on education under the Obama administration. “She is and has been on our childrens’ side,” he said.

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In the weeks leading up to the hearing, a number of prominent Republicans, including former presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Jeb Bush, came out in support of DeVos’s work to support school choice. But civil-rights groups and teachers’ unions have challenged what they see as her lack of experience in public education and her family’s ties to conservative religious organizations.

Broadly, DeVos has fought to expand charter schools and the use of vouchers, including to pay for religious schools. DeVos has spoken in the past about advancing a Christian agenda through education. And critics are worried that her involvement with a variety of causes and lawmakers will complicate her ability to serve as secretary.

According to the left-leaning Center for American Progress, DeVos’s family has given nearly $1 million to more than 20 senators who will vote on her confirmation, including roughly $250,000 to members of the education committee. The family gave Senator Tim Scott, the Republican from South Carolina who introduced DeVos at the beginning of the hearing, nearly $50,000, and he served as keynote speaker at last year’s annual summit for the American Federation for Children, an organization she chaired until recently.