唐纳德?特朗普(Donald Trump)提名的有争议的美国教育部长人选贝齐?德沃斯(Betsy DeVos)昨日在美国副总统迈克?彭斯(Mike Pence)出面在参议院投出史无前例的决定性一票后，才终于得到确认。

　　Ms DeVos, a billionaire Republican donor who critics say is an enemy of state schools, became Mr Trump’s most contentious cabinet nominee amid questions about her qualifications for the role and potential conflicts of interest stemming from her wealth.

　　德沃斯是共和党的一位亿万富豪捐赠者，批评者称她是公立学校的敌人。她的资格，以及她的财富所带来的潜在利益冲突，都招致质疑，令她成为特朗普最有争议的内阁提名人。

　　The need for Mr Pence to intervene signalled the potential fragility of the president’s support among a few of his party’s headstrong senators, who have already shown a willingness to speak out against his policies.

　　需要彭斯出面干预表明，对美国总统的支持在少数顽固的共和党参议员那儿存在脆弱性，他们已经表明愿意公开反对他的政策。

　　With the chamber deadlocked at 50-50 after two Republican senators voted against Ms DeVos, Mr Pence arrived on Capitol Hill to cast the deciding vote for her — the first time a vice-president has used his tiebreaking powers to confirm a cabinet secretary.

　　由于两名共和党参议员投票反对确认德沃斯，参议院投票陷入50对50的僵局，彭斯来到国会山为她投出决定性的一票。这是美国副总统首次运用自己的决定权来确认一位内阁部长。

　　副总统投票后特朗普教育部长人选终获确认.jpg

　　Ms DeVos’s nomination had turned into a proxy war for a broader debate in the US over the future of government-run schools and education funding.

　　对德沃斯的提名已成为美国一场更广泛辩论的“代理人战争”，其焦点问题是公立学校和教育经费的未来。

　　The new education secretary has used her vast wealth to fund groups that advocate using public funds to pay tuition fees at private institutions such as charter schools, bankrolling a movement that critics say is undermining state schools.

　　这位新任教育部长曾利用自己庞大的财富资助一些团体，它们倡导使用公款支付特许学校之类私立机构的学费；批评者称，她资助的运动在损害公立学校。

　　Democrats fought bitterly to shoot down her nomination, arguing that she had never held a job in education and highlighting how she fumbled questions from lawmakers about policy issues in a confirmation hearing.

　　民主党人激烈反对她的提名，称她从未从事教育工作，并指出她在确认听证会上笨拙地回答议员们提出的政策问题。

　　Senator Patty Murray, a Democrat, said that Ms DeVos was driven by an “extreme rightwing ideology” and wanted “to bring her anti-government, free-market-above-all philosophy to an education system that she has called nothing more than ‘an industry’.”

　　民主党参议员帕蒂?默里(Patty Murray)表示，德沃斯被“极右翼意识形态”驱使，想要“把她那套反政府的、自由市场至上的哲学运用到教育系统，而且她只把教育系统称为‘一个产业’”。

　　The Republican senators who opposed Ms DeVos, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Susan Collins of Maine, said they were concerned she did not have sufficient experience with state schools, which are central to the education department’s mandate.

　　阿拉斯加州参议员丽莎?穆考斯基(Lisa Murkowski)、缅因州参议员苏珊?柯林斯(Susan Collins)是共和党内反对德沃斯的参议员，她们表示担心她在公立学校上缺乏足够经验，而这种经验是教育部职责的核心。

　　Mr Trump was quick to tweet his congratulations to the new education secretary, who he has hailed as a “reformer”.

　　特朗普迅速在Twitter上向新任教育部长表示祝贺，称赞她是一位“改革者”。