WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Chris Coons (D-Del.), a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, today joined Fox Business to discuss his “no” vote on Betsy DeVos’ nomination and the upcoming confirmation hearings for Circuit Court Judge Neil Gorsuch, President Trump’s nominee for the Supreme Court.

Full video and audio available here.

Excerpts from the interview:

Sen. Coons on Republican opposition to Pres. Obama’s appointments: I haven't taken that same approach. I have voted or will vote for General Mattis for Secretary of Defense, for Linda McMahon for Small Business Administrator. I’ve met with both of them and found them to be qualified. I’ve reviewed their records of service and was encouraged by what I think they will be able to do for our country. On the issue of the Supreme Court, I am not going to do to Judge Neil Gorsuch what Republicans did to Merrick Garland, and refuse to give him a hearing. [That was] an unprecedented and extreme step. I think he should get a hearing and the American people should hear his views and his record and go from there.

Sen. Coons on Judge Gorsuch’s nomination: I’m concerned about his position on access to justice and plaintiffs. I’m concerned about how he sees the balance of power between our branches and I’m concerned about some of his opinions and writings. [However], I’ve heard from a number who've practiced with him positive things as an individual, but I have not yet met with him and I am really in the beginning stages of reading into his record, his decisions, his opinions and the work he did both as an attorney and now is a Circuit Court judge. So, I am working to keep an open mind and to provide him the fair hearing that Merrick Garland never received.

Sen. Coons on his “no” vote for Ms. DeVos: I listened to the confirmation hearing of Betsy DeVos and in my view she just didn't have the experience, the background, or the insight. She’s not in the mainstream of American education policy and she, frankly, flunked the test of being able to identify core issues of federal education policy. For example, she had no idea what the IDEA was, which is the federal statute that protects children with disabilities and makes sure they get access to high-quality education. She couldn’t identify the difference between growth and proficiency, which are core ideas in how we measure progress in education. [Additionally], the agenda she pursued in Michigan, providing taxpayers access to funding through vouchers to derail funding from the traditional public schools and send it to private or parochial schools without accountability, struck me as the sort of [policy] that I’m surprised Republicans would ever support and that virtually every democrat has opposed.

Sen. Coons on alternative educational programs: As I said on the floor earlier in a speech, I spent more than a decade working with the “I have a Dream” Foundation, an organization that provides educational scholarships and opportunity to kids in the toughest schools in the country. I've been to the most violent, most difficult, most failing schools in America and I understand and empathize with the yearning of parents and students to have alternatives. [However], to have alternatives without accountability is a disastrous path. In my home state we have charter schools. We have school choice. In some cases it's worked out well. Our governor had the courage and the foresight to shut down failing charter schools. That is something Betsy DeVos fought against. I don't think Republicans have ever stood for taxpayer dollars being spent without appropriate accountability. That was a key area of concern for me.

Sen. Coons on Democrats' opposition to cabinet picks: It troubles me that we’ve had, in the six years I’ve been a Senator, obstruction and an inability for us to work together. Republicans vigorously obstructed President Obama’s attempts at confirmation for Supreme Court Justice, District Court judges, and senior positions in his administration.