Sen. Franken Takes Spotlight At Trump Cabinet Hearings
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- President-elect Donald Trump is in Washington Thursday night to kick off inauguration events.
As he prepares for Friday's big day, his cabinet picks are in the midst of tough confirmation hearings.
Among them is energy secretary nominee Rick Perry and treasury secretary nominee Steven Mnuchin.
While Democrats grill the nominees, few have been as critical as Minnesota Senator Al Franken.
His questioning of education secretary nominee Betsy DeVos has been viewed more than four million times on the senator's Facebook page.
A CBS News political correspondent went so far as to call Franken the breakout star of the confirmation hearings.
DeVos struggled to answer Franken's question on testing students for their growth or improvement, versus testing them for their proficiency or specific knowledge
Franken: I'm talking about the debate between proficiency and growth, about what your thoughts are on them?
DeVos: Well, I was just asking to clarify then …
Franken: Well this is a subject that has been debated in the education community for years. So I've been an advocate of growth, but it surprises me that you don't know this issue. And Mr. Chairman, I think this is a good reason for us to have more questions.
Franken's interviews of attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions and health and human services nominee Dr. Tom Price have also received widespread coverage.
"You guys want to end the expansion of Medicaid," Franken said to Price. "That has people in Minnesota scared out of their mind."
Franken says he is just doing his job and plans to vote against Sessions, Price and DeVos. He says DeVos is simply not qualified.
"I had a courtesy meeting with her in my office and I was just startled at how little she knew about anything in education," Franken said. "She has a very ideological point of view."
Political analyst Larry Jacobs, from the Humphrey School of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota, says Franken appears to be entering a new phase.
"Welcome to the new Al Franken. Al Franken is funny and fierce," Jacobs said. "Al Franken is on a path to be one of the lead Democratic critics of the Trump administration."
When Franken first won election back in 2009 after the lengthy recount, he seemed to go out of his way to try and not be funny. But one exchange during the confirmation hearing of former Texas Gov. Rick Perry was very funny.
Franken: Governor, thank you so much for coming into my office. Did you enjoy meeting me?
Perry: I hope you were as much fun on that dias as you were on your couch.
[Attendees laugh]
Perry: May I rephrase that, sir [laughs]?
[Attendee laughter continues]
Franken: Please, please. Oh my lord. Oh my lord.
Perry: Well, I think we've found our "Saturday Night Live" soundbite!
