First Meeting Won’t Take Place Until Two Months After Parkland School Massacre
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos, testifying before a House Appropriations subcommittee Tuesday morning, admitted that despite the nationwide outrage over the Parkland, Florida school shooting she has yet to convene the first meeting of the task force on school gun violence President Donald Trump tasked her with creating and leading two weeks ago.
DeVos responded to questions from Democratic Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, saying only that the first meeting would take place “very soon.” When pressed by the Massachusetts Congresswoman, DeVos said “within the next few weeks.”
The Education Secretary also admitted the commission is composed of just four cabinet secretaries including herself, the Attorney General, HHS Secretary Alex Azar, and Homeland Security Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen.
“No experts? No Democrats?” Clark asked.
“That is the composition of the commission itself,” DeVos said, adding that they would be meeting with experts “across the country.”
Asked if any students would be invited, DeVos said only that she wants to “move quickly without getting bogged down in a lot of bureaucracy.”
DeVos told Clark the first meeting would take place by mid-April, and “the timeline is still being worked out.”
“Rest assured we have a very keen sense of urgency around the work of this commission -” DeVos told Clark.
Rep. Clark interjected: “How are you defining ‘urgency’?”
Image: Screenshot via C-SPAN