U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said Tuesday that her agency would not give federal funds to private schools that defy federal antidiscrimination laws. However, she suggested it is not the Department of Educations job to prevent discrimination against students in cases in which federal antidiscrimination laws are murky, such as with LGBTQ students.

DeVos took part in a contentious hearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, and Education on Tuesday morning. There, Democrats and Republicans hammered the secretary on the administrations proposed budget, which would cut billions of dollars in funding for public education while increasing money to support school choice programs. The budget directs some of this funding toward helping students attend private and religious schools .

While under questioning from Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), DeVos wouldnt definitively say whether private schools receiving federal funds would be punished for religious discrimination or discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer students. She maintained that these schools would be required to follow federal antidiscrimination laws, but said the Department of Education would not be issuing any directives beyond that.