Overview

• Kirsten Baesler will serve as assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education, leading the office that oversees Title I funding and enforcement of the Every Student Succeeds Act.
• Her confirmation was part of an en masse approval of more than 100 executive nominees after a Senate rules change enabling simple-majority group votes.
• The vote split 51–47 along party lines, advancing her nomination without a Senate HELP Committee hearing earlier in the process.
• Baesler has advocated reducing departmental staff and shifting some Education Department functions to other agencies, aligning with the administration’s downsizing agenda.
• North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong is set to appoint a successor to complete Baesler’s term as state superintendent.