Outgoing President Donald Trump's administration has seen an unprecedented number of departures throughout the last four years, but Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is one of the few to serve the Trump administration consistently since immediately following Trump's inauguration.
That came to an end on Thursday when DeVos submitted her resignation in protest of the unprecedented siege on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump extremists, fueled by the President's lies that widespread election fraud coordinated by Democrats delivered a false victory to President-elect Joe Biden.
The Trump riots left five people dead after his supporters infiltrated the Capitol, ransacking offices, spreading excrement across the walls, and parading around the Senate floor. Vice President Mike Pence—who was overseeing the joint congressional session to certify Biden's victory that day—was forced to evacuate and lawmakers were told to take refuge in any office or behind any chair they could find.
The President inciting a siege on the U.S. Capitol to upend a crucial legislative process represented one of the darkest days for American democracy in modern history.
For that reason, DeVos submitted her resignation, writing:
"[W]e are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to disrupt the people's business. That behavior was unconscionable for our country. There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me."
DeVos' words seem far less noble under the context of her reign as Education Secretary, where she fought against expanded student loan forgiveness and against protections for sexual assault victims on college campuses. DeVos repeatedly urged schools to fully reopen during the pandemic that's killed over 350 thousand Americans.
So it may not come as a surprise that the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—the second largest teachers' union in the United States—wasn't sad to see her go.
In fact, they had just two words for her:
"Good riddance."
People across the nation cackled at the devastating brevity.
The AFT weren't the only ones happy to see DeVos exit.
DeVos is the second cabinet secretary to resign in the wake of the Trump riots, following the exit of Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, who announced this week that she'd depart the administration on Monday.
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