The U.S. Senate confirmed another of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees on Monday, voting 64-33 in favor of Dr. Miguel Cardona to head the Department of Education.

What You Need To Know

  • The U.S. Senate voted 64-33 in favor of approving Miguel Cardona as Education Secretary on Monday

  • One of Cardona’s primary tasks will be reopening K-8 schools, an issue of increasing frustration for the Biden administration

  • Cardona was appointed to the top education post in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March

  • During his testimony, Cardona emphasized the need for more surveillance testing to detect the coronavirus among teachers and other employees

“Today, American public education has a future that is bright and promising with Miguel A. Cardona’s leadership,” Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D-CT), said on the Senate floor Monday, adding: “His extraordinary accomplishments have led him to this place of consummate prominence in the educational, professional community, and now he will do great things for the cause of education in our country, not just Connecticut.” 

Over a dozen GOP senators voted in favor of Cardona’s confirmation, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL), and Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT).

Some Republicans cited Cardona’s years of experience as an in-school educator as reason for supporting his nomination, saying his testimony in front of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee earlier this month helped solidify their vote. 

“We should be seriously talking about reopening schools as quickly as possible. That's what the science tells us. That's what students need,” Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC) said on the Senate floor last Thursday, adding: “(Cardona) stressed the need for students to get back to school. and I'm glad that's now finally a bipartisan mission.”

Cardona was appointed to the top education post in Connecticut just months before the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in March. When schools moved to remote learning, he hurried to deliver more than 100,000 laptops to students across the state. Since then, however, he has increasingly pressed schools to reopen, saying it’s harmful to keep students at home.

During a hearing in front of the Senate committee in early February, Cardona pledged to counter the “frustration and distrust and fear” about reopening schools in the middle of a pandemic with clear guidance, expanded virus testing and a call for teachers to be prioritized in vaccine rollout plans.

But Cardona stopped short of saying that all teachers should receive vaccines before being asked to return to the classroom, a demand being made by some teachers unions.

“We have great examples throughout our country of schools that have been able to reopen safely,” Cardona said at the time. 

Reopening schools has been an issue of increasing frustration for the Biden administration, which pledged to have most of the country’s K-8 schools within his first 100 days in office. But the administration in recent weeks has sent muddled and at times contradictory messages about Biden’s goal, offering ample opportunity for Republicans to attack the president on one of his key promises. 

During his testimony, Cardona emphasized the need for more surveillance testing to detect the coronavirus among teachers and other employees.

Biden’s education secretary will also be tasked with reversing an array of policies established by Secretary Betsy DeVos. Throughout his campaign, Biden depicted DeVos as an enemy of public schools and vowed to install an education chief with experience working in public schools.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.