Betsy DeVos

Education Secretary-designate Betsy DeVos testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2017, at her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

(Carolyn Kaster | AP)

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions voted Tuesday to recommend Betsy DeVos' nomination for Education Secretary to the full Senate.

But two Republicans on the committee have said they still have concerns with DeVos' nomination going into the floor vote, meaning the final vote on her confirmation could be close.

Committee members voted 12-11 to move DeVos' nomination to the full Senate floor along partisan lines.

Democrats on the committee voted against the nomination, citing continued concerns that all of their questions haven't been answered and with her stated policies on higher education, public schools and school vouchers.

"It's hard to imagine a candidate less qualified or more dangerous" to be in charge of the U.S. education system, Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said at the hearing.

Although Committee Chair Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and other Republicans on the committee expressed support of DeVos, Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said they haven't determined what their floor vote will be.

Collins said she was voting for DeVos at the committee level to move it to the full floor, but will continue to evaluate the nomination because she was "surprised and concerned about Mrs. DeVos' apparent lack of familiarity" with the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), which guarantees education for children with special needs.

Murkowski said that while she voted her to the full Senate in deference to the President's choice, DeVos hasn't yet earned her full support, as she's not sure whether the candidate fully understands the issues facing rural school districts such as those in Alaska.

"I would not advise that she yet count on my vote," Murkowski said.

Sen. Richard Burr, R-N.C., said DeVos is being unfairly targeted for using her wealth in an attempt to make education better for all children. He criticized the Democrats for using a "strategy" to attack DeVos.

"That's why Sen. Scott got all the calls he did. Why I've gotten all the calls I did. Why my wife got all the calls she did," Burr said.

Alexander said he's confident in DeVos' abilities and believes she has had an adequate time in front of the committee, estimating that she is the "most questioned education secretary in the history of the Senate."

"We disagree about process, we disagree about the nominee - we're at the point where we need to express those differences of opinion by vote," Alexander said.

To be confirmed as education secretary, DeVos needs a simple majority vote in the Senate. The upper chamber is controlled by Republicans, with 52 senators in the majority party, 46 Democrats in the minority and two Independents who caucus with Democrats.