Montana Senate votes to punish Ellsworth, revokes lifetime floor privileges
As the Senate chamber emptied on Tuesday afternoon, a sergeant-at-arms cleared off the desk of Sen. Jason Ellsworth.
The Montana Senate voted 44-6 to punish the Hamilton Republican, for his failure to disclose a conflict of interest in procuring a contract for a close friend, and for a 'pattern of abuse.'
In making the motion, Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray, R-Billings, said the punishment was for more than just the conflict of interest which was the focus of a Senate Ethics Committee. He said it encompassed years of wrongdoings by Ellsworth, including running afoul of the Federal Trade Commission more than a decade ago, two altercations with law enforcement, and the work done late last year to a $170,100 contract that skirted procurement rules.
'I think this is appropriate,' McGillvray told his colleagues on the floor. 'These incidents were very, very serious and the Senate should respond accordingly.'
Ellsworth, who apologized for only an appearance of impropriety, voted remotely against his own censure. He did not respond to texts or phone calls about his censure.
Last week, the Senate voted twice on motions to expel Ellsworth, but couldn't get to the 2/3 majority (34 votes) needed to punish or expel a member, as a majority of Democrats voted against expulsion. Another expulsion vote taken before the censure also failed.
Negotiations between McGillvray and Senate President Matt Regier, R-Kalispell, and Minority Leader Pat Flowers, D-Belgrade, took place over the last week, up until Tuesday when McGillvray said he crafted the final language that went 'right up to' the line of expulsion.
The censure includes the following:
Removal from Senate standing committees
No assignment to interim committees
No verbal contact with executive branch directors or legislative staff, unless Ellsworth is first contacted by them.
Revocation of access to legislator or legislative services office space
Revocation of floor privileges for life
For the remainder of the session, all Ellsworth can do in an official capacity is vote, remotely, on second and third readings of bills, and on motions made on the floor. Former legislators are allowed floor access after they serve, but Ellsworth will not be allowed to enter the Senate chamber again.
Regier told reporters after the vote that he remained disappointed that the chamber was unable to muster the votes to expel Ellsworth, casting blame on the minority caucus.
'This is everything that the public of Montana does not like about politicians, and we didn't expel that from the system,' Regier said. 'I'm still for (expulsion), still disappointed that the Democrat party didn't stand up and get rid of corruption. But I am glad, as a conciliatory action, that action was taken and there was repercussions.'
McGillvray added he felt the Democrats likely prevented the expulsion of Ellsworth to secure a vote on legislation.
'Democrats don't protect corrupt Republicans out of principle,' he said.
Six members voted against the censure, including two Democrats — Sen. Ellie Boldman and Sen. Jonathan Windy Boy. Two Great Falls Republicans Sens. Jeremy Trebas and Daniel Emrich had voted for expulsion but not for the censure, and Wendy McKamey, also of Great Falls, voted against the censure.
Both Democrats spoke on the floor about their reasons for resisting the motion. Windy Boy said he thought there should be a progressive warning system before a punishment was enacted, while Boldman said she still doubted the fairness of the entire process and felt that revoking floor privileges for life went too far.
'The political witch hunt needs to stop,' she said.
Many members of the Republican majority, however, still favored expulsion.
Sen. Forrest Mandeville, R-Columbus, who led the Senate Ethics Committee, made a substitute motion to expel Ellsworth, which failed on a tie vote.
'I don't see what has changed in the last week that would change my mind that expulsion is the most appropriate punishment,' he said. 'I feel the infractions of the Senator from Senate District 43 has made over the course of his service in the Senate makes him unsuitable for office.'
Sen. Chris Pope, a Bozeman Democrat, also served on the Ethics Committee and again made his case that censure was the best route and would be a 'very black mark' on Ellsworth.
'I think there's a sense in this body that our colleague has really fallen and that there needs to be consequences,' Pope said. 'We also, as a body, I think, have been interested in being judicious and being fair, but being very explicit as to what the punishment and what the long term need is here for this body to express itself, and its commitment to transparency and integrity and decorum.'
Flowers said he felt the censure was fair, even though it went further than what his party had initially proposed — including the revocation of floor privileges and speaking to legislative staff — and for the most part his caucus had been happy with where things ended up.
'I applaud the Ethics Committee for being as efficient as possible with that effort and fair, but it did take a lot of time and energy, and I think just brought a kind of a little bit of a pall on our proceedings in here,' Flowers said. 'I think all of us are ready and happy to be moving on.'
Ellsworth's office had yet to be emptied as of Tuesday afternoon.
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He launched his higher education career early by taking college courses while in high school, according to details shared about his high school and college life by Education Department spokesperson Madison Biedermann. He also was a first-generation student who received a Pell Grant, an award geared toward low-income students. After graduating, he spent two years working for the Accrediting Bureau of Health Education Schools, according to his LinkedIn page listing his work history. It's a smaller player in the accreditation space that approves many for-profit schools that offer bachelor's degrees and shorter programs for jobs like a licensed practical nurse, massage therapist or dental hygienist. In 2008, he joined Education Affiliates, and in 2009 he started a master's program at George Washington University with a concentration in higher education administration. 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The suit went on to say executives 'attempted at all costs to minimize the results thereof by blatantly changing the results, doctoring actual documents in student files, or simply refusing to return and refund funding to the Department of Education.' Thomas said she was fired in 2012 after the company had learned she had brought her complaints to the Education Department. But it wasn't just Thomas who raised concerns. Her whistleblower suit would join four others against the company covering a span from 2005 to 2013. The resulting investigation included five different state attorneys general offices across the U.S., the Education Department and the FBI. The plaintiffs were mostly former employees, but some included students who said they were fraudulently enrolled. Though the specifics of the complaints varied, most painted the company as focused on growth rather than student success. 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Rosenstein, then-U.S Attorney for Maryland who would go on to be deputy attorney general for the first Trump administration, announced the $13 million settlement. Ted Mitchell, then under secretary of the Education Department, said at the time the settled cases included 'numerous allegations of predatory conduct that victimized students and bilked taxpayers.' Years later, Mitchell as president of the American Council on Education signed a letter endorsing Kent. He declined to answer questions about the 2015 statement. But another senior leader of the group, Jon Fansmith said, 'The ACE letter of support is a sincere recommendation based on Ted's and ACE's experience over a number of years of working with Mr. Kent in a variety of professional roles.' Kent's time with the for-profit group is listed on his LinkedIn page, but it was not included in the Education Department's announcement about his nomination. Ben DeGweck, general counsel for Education Affiliates, confirmed that Kent had been a vice president with the company and that he was 'never involved in any part of the allegations, nor the internal or external discussions related to the settlement, which is now more than a decade old matter.' 'His focus while at Education Affiliates was on external regulatory and legislative matters related to higher education,' DeGweck said in a statement to USA TODAY. The company also supports his nomination, saying it is 'confident he will bring an ethical and fair approach to all institutions of higher education, regardless of sector.' The Education Department declined to answer USA TODAY's questions about Kent's time at Education Affiliates. Instead, in a statement shared by Bindermann the agency said Kent's 20-plus years of experience in the higher education space gave him a 'well-rounded and pragmatic understanding of the education landscape.' Thomas was skeptical of the company's statement based on her experience working at the company and given Kent was part of the corporate team. And Christopher Madaio, a former chief of an investigative unit within Education Department, said in his experience investigating for-profit colleges, pressure to grow profits often comes from those in leadership. Madaio is now a senior adviser for the Institute of College Access and Success, a group which sent a letter to the Senate education committee alongside teachers' unions and others pushing for a public hearing on Kent's nomination. He said the company's response is appreciated, but he said he believes "there is value to putting people who seek this type of important position under oath and asking them questions about their experience, prior employers, and principles.' A defender of for-profit colleges Kent spent less than a year working at Washington, D.C.'s public school system before starting consulting work through the Dulles Advisory Group. In a public filing, Kent wrote that he was the 'sole managing director' and it was 'used only as a pass-through entity for funds received for consulting income.' He added the company had been dormant since 2017. That was when Kent started working for Career Education Colleges and Universities. The group's CEO, Jason Altmire, said he understood Kent wasn't involved in the Education Affiliates settlement and that the company had admitted no wrongdoing. He added that Kent's 'impeccable character' meant he was not worried about his past employment. At that for-profit trade group, Kent earned a reputation as an avid critic of regulation of for-profit schools, especially toward Biden administration policies. He often spoke against the 90/10 rule, a regulation that requires for-profit colleges receive at least 10% of their income from sources other than the federal government. Previously, funding from the Department of Veterans Affairs, which includes the G.I. Bill, had counted toward the 10% side. Veteran advocacy groups argued that loophole gave for-profit colleges an incentive to aggressively recruit students paying with the G.I. Bill as a counterbalance to students paying only with federal financial aid. In 2021, Congress voted to include all forms of federal funding on the 90% side of the rule, not just money from the Education Department as part of a pandemic relief package. CECU, and sometimes Kent directly, had initially argued against that effort, saying the move would limit veterans' access to higher education. Still, representatives for the for-profit sector participated in the federal rulemaking process and CECU abstained from filing a challenge against the final rule. Altmire praised the Trump administration's recent tweak to the rule allowing universities to count some unaccredited programs toward the non-federal funding side. He said the rule does a poor job of measuring quality, but that the group appreciated 'the Department's efforts to at least apply it in a more evenhanded way for as long as it remains in statute.' He told USA TODAY Kent was what the Education Department needed during a transitional time in higher education. He added that Kent had deep policy knowledge and 'is not driven by partisanship and brings a fair and unbiased perspective to the role.' Unlike McMahon, who is newer to the often byzantine world of higher education policy, Kent knows his way around. That is the assessment of Kevin Kinser, a Pennsylvania State University professor, who has long studied the for-profit sector and college accreditation. He said Kent likely understands the 'ways that the higher education universe is dependent on the federal government for its viability,' and how the administration could use that reliance to bend universities to its will. As for what Kent might do? Kinser said he might expect a drive for policies that would have colleges prioritize preparing students for the workforce. That stance would be in contrast to a traditional view of higher education that holds a degree is about helping people be engaged members of society in addition to getting a job. Kinser also said Kent's time working with an accreditor is likely to be useful as Trump on the campaign trail had declared college accreditation his 'secret weapon' to take back universities from the 'radical left.' The administration has already pressured Columbia's and Harvard's accreditors to take action against the universities in response to its findings that they violated the rights of Jewish students. Trump also has signed an executive order that aims to make it easier for universities to switch accreditors and would ramp up efforts to recognize new ones. Kent has also won the support of some veterans groups focused on higher education and some trade groups, including the American Association of Community Colleges, which praised his knowledge of the department's policy making process. Others, such as Ohio University emeritus professor Richard Vedder, are unconcerned about Kent's ties to the for-profit industry. Vedder has studied for-profits and is the author of 'Let Colleges Fail: The Power of Creative Destruction in Higher Education.' Though he would not call himself an advocate for proprietary schools, he said the federal government and some Democratic members of Congress have long been unfairly critical of the for-profit industry. But Vedder said that every sector of higher education has 'bad apples.' And he added that all types of higher ed are subject to some Education Department regulations. Why should working at a for-profit disqualify someone from a top government post, he asked. It was important, he said, to have people who are familiar with higher education in that role. Vedder thought someone like Kent might push to reconfigure the 90/10 rule. He also questioned if he would push for more limits on federal student lending or even advocate to get the government out of that market altogether. Holding higher ed accountable or MAGA agenda to disrupt? In September 2023, Kent hung up his policy hat and moved into the public sector as a member of Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin's administration. A Republican, Youngkin on his first day in office signed an executive order to end the use of "inherently divisive concepts, including critical race theory," in K-12 public schools. In 2024, his administration reviewed the curriculum for courses about race and diversity at George Mason University and Virginia Commonwealth University. The universities subsequently dropped the courses. Youngkin's administration also made headlines that year for signing a Democratic-sponsored bill ending the use of legacy admissions at Virginia's public schools. That cause is often associated with higher education access advocates who say the practice favors wealthy students. Kent's departing message to the Commonwealth focused on other accomplishments. The two paragraph email, which was obtained by USA TODAY, touted 'reducing costs' while advocating for free speech and accountability at Virginia's colleges. He added he was 'especially proud' of providing 'data to make more informed decisions.' That appears to be a reference to the 'Virginia higher education planning guide and college outcomes,' a tool with data like college graduation rates and student demographics. Much of that data was already available via the state organization that oversees higher education institutions in the state. It's unclear what Kent's legacy in Virginia will be long term. Of the lawmakers who responded to USA TODAY's media inquiries, a Republican and two Democrats told USA TODAY they didn't have much or any experience working with Kent directly in his roughly year and a half within the governor's office. But the chair of the Virginia Senate's education committee, Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, said Kent's nomination raised 'significant concerns.' Hashmi, who is also the Democratic nominee for Virginia's lieutenant governor, pointed to his work with CECU to limit regulations for for-profit colleges and said in Virginia he had 'hoped to destabilize accreditation policies for colleges and universities,' but she did 'not allow his efforts to go far.' 'Kent's stance aligns with a broader MAGA agenda to dismantle consumer protections and accountability measures and to undermine the quality of higher education,' Hashmi said. In contrast, a trade group of private universities in Virginia said he was vital to 'expanding and strengthening student aid programs.' Youngkin praised Kent's work, saying in a statement shared by the Education Department that he 'strengthened the management of our higher education institutions, increasing transparency to hold them accountable to parents and students.' The governor's office did not respond to USA TODAY's request for comment about Kent's accomplishments in the state. Regardless of his future, Kent is already notable for signing up for a top job at an agency the president doesn't want to exist. Chris Quintana is an investigative reporter at USA TODAY. He can be reached at cquintana@ or via Signal at 202-308-9021. He is on X at @CQuintanaDC