Education Secretary Betsy DeVos slams Obama's transgender bathroom rule as 'overreach'

— -- Education Secretary Betsy DeVos said she supports President Trump's rollback of Obama administration guidelines on transgender students' choice of bathrooms in schools.

During a Q&A at the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) on Thursday, DeVos said the previous president's guidance issued last year to public schools was a "very huge example of the Obama administration's overreach."

She added, however, "It's our job to protect students" and "to protect personal freedoms."

The charter school advocate was making her first in-person comments on the issue since The New York Times and Washington Post reported that she and Attorney General Jeff Sessions differed on the rollout of the new policy given disagreements on timing and language. ABC News has not independently confirmed those accounts.

In a written statement released Wednesday night, DeVos expanded on the views she expressed at CPAC, saying she has dedicated her career to protecting “all students, including LGBTQ students.”

Before DeVos addressed the new bathroom guidance onstage, she deflected several questions from ABC News and other outlets about whether or not she voiced her dissent on the issue to Sessions or President Trump.

“We’re here to say hi to the folks out the front,” she said as she entered an area reserved for speakers.