Thank you, Mr. Chariman. As the only other party to the so-called precedent of "we don't have a second-round," I asked my staff to actually pull the record from the hearing we had with King and you said -- uh -- when you called on me: "I think we have time for a second-round. Senator Warren, you can be the first in the second round." Just turns out I was the only one who stayed and had questions. So I -- Sen Alexander: That's why we had time. Sen Warren: I understood that that precedent meant that anybody who had questions for a second round could stay and ask them. And while we're doing precedents, I also understand that the precedent was that President Obama's nominees that came before this committee had all filled out their ethics forms and that those were available before we had a hearing so that we would have a chance to ask questions about them in public. So I'm a little confused about what "precedent" means here. Ms. DeVos, many of my Democratic colleagues have pointed out your lack of experience in k-12 public schools, but I'd like to ask you about your qualifications for leading the nation on higher education. The Department of Education is in charge of making sure that the $150 billion dollars that we invest in students each year gets into the right hands and that students have the support they need to be able to pay back their student loans. The Secretary of Education is essentially responsible for managing a $1 trillion student loan bank and distributing $30 billion in Pell Grants to students each year. The financial futures of an entire generation of young people depend on your department getting that right. Now, Mrs. DeVos, do you have any direct experience running a bank? DeVos: Senator, I do not. Warren: Uh huh. Do you -- have you ever managed or overseen a $1 trillion loan program? DeVos: I have not. Warren: How about a billion-dollar loan program? DeVos:I have not. Warren: Ok, so no experience in managing a program like this. How about participating in one? I think it's important for the person who is in charge of our financial aid programs to understand what it's like for students and their families who are struggling to pay for college. Mrs. DeVos, have you ever taken out a student loan from the federal government to help pay for college? DeVos: I have not. Warren: Have any of your children had to borrow money in order to go to college? DeVos: They have been fortunate not to. Warren: Uh huh. Have you had any personal experience with a Pell Grant? DeVos: Uh, not personal experience, but certainly friends and students with whom I've worked -- Warren: So you have no personal experience with college financial aid or management of higher education. Mrs. DeVos, then let's start with the basics. Do you support protecting federal taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud and abuse? DeVos: Absolutely. Warern: Oh good, so do I. Because now we all know that President-elect Trump's experience with higher education was to create a fake university, which resulted in his paying a $25 million to students that he cheated. So I'm curious about how the Trump Administration would protect against waste, fraud, and abuse at similar for-profit colleges. So here's my question: how do you plan to protect taxpayer dollars from waste, fraud, and abuse by colleges that take in millions of dollars in federal student aid? DeVos: Senator, um, if confirmed, I will certainly be very vigilant -- Warren: Yeah, I'm asking how -- how are you going to do that. You said you're committed DeVos: The individuals with whom I work in the Department will ensure that federal monies are used properly and appropriately, and I will look forward to working with you -- Warren: So you're going to subcontract making sure that what happened with universities that cheat students doesn't happen anymore. DeVos: No I didn't say that. Warren: You're going to give that to someone else to do? I just want to know what your ideas are for making sure we don't have problems with waste, fraud, and abuse. DeVos: I want to make sure we don't have problems with that as well. And if confirmed i will work diligently to ensure that we are addressing any of those issues. Warren: Well let me make a suggestion on this. It actually turns out that there are whole group of rules that are already written and are there, and all you have to do is enforce them. So what I want to know is: will you commit to enforcing these rules to ensure that no career college receives federal funds unless they can prove that they are actually preparing their students for gainful employment and not cheating them? DeVos: Senator, I will commit to ensuring that institutions which receive federal funds are actually serving their students well. Warren: And so you will enforce the gainful employment rule to make sure that these career colleges are not cheating students? DeVos: We will certainly review that rule -- Warren: You'll review it? You will not commit to enforce it? DeVos: And see that it is actually achieving what the intentions are. Warren: I don't understand about reviewing it. We talked about this in my office. There are already rules in place to stop waste, fraud, and abuse, and I don't understand how you cannot be sure about enforcing them. You know, swindlers and crooks are out there doing backflips when they hear an answer like this. If confirmed, you will be the cop on the beat, and if you can't commit to use the tools that are already available to you in the Department of Education, then I don't see how you can be the Secretary of Education. And i look forward to having a second round of questions.
