By Andrew Pillow

An Indiana businessman and school reform advocate has withdrawn his name from consideration for a spot in the U.S. Department of Education. Al Hubbard was considered to be a favorite for the nation’s 2nd highest ranking education position, although the entire process was kept pretty secret.

Hubbard confirmed to WFYI that there was mutual interest between the two parties but he dropped out for financial reasons.

“It would have been extremely costly to us. Once they made it clear what we were going to have to do, we concluded that we couldn’t justify doing it,” Said Hubbard

Hubbard has been a huge supporter of school choice and Betsy DeVos.

The Trump administration has had problems filling the vacancies for many of its open positions. According to Senate Minority Leader, Charles Schumer, there are close to 500 confirmable positions and the administration has “failed to select a nominee for 442 of them,”

The Washington Post tracker puts that number closer to 457.

It looks like the Trump administration will have to look elsewhere to find Betsy DeVos’s 2nd in command.