Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Thursday she fully supports President Donald Trump's decision to kill guidelines enacted by the Obama administration that regulate transgender students' choice of bathrooms in schools.

"[It's a] very huge example of the Obama administration's overreach," DeVos said during an interview at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland.

But her wholehearted embrace of Trump's move comes after a reported tussle with Attorney General Jeff Sessions over the issue, which she was reportedly not in favor dismantling.

Earlier this week, The New York Times reported that DeVos told the president she wasn't comfortable with signing off on the order, but Sessions — who needed her signature — reportedly pressed her to get on board.



Sources close told the Times that Trump told DeVos in a meeting Tuesday that he wanted her to side with him and Sessions — and DeVos, who would have had to resign if she refused to change her mind, folded her objections.

"It's our job to protect students," DeVos said at CPAC. "To protect personal freedoms."

Earlier, DeVos put tongue-in-cheek to introduce herself to the CPAC audience in Maryland, saying: "I'm Betsy DeVos. You may have heard some of the wonderful things the mainstream media has said about me."

The Obama administration's protections had allowed transgender students to use bathrooms corresponding with their gender identity. Trump and Sessions want the transgender issue to be handled by individual states.