February 6, 2017

Democrats Are Holding the Senate Floor for 24 Hours to Protest Betsy DeVos’ Nomination

“On basic competence, Ms. DeVos has failed to make the grade.”


Senate Democrats have announced a plan to hold the Senate floor for the next 24 hours to speak against President Donald Trump’s pick for education secretary, Betsy DeVos.

“In my mind, she is the least qualified nominee in a historically unqualified cabinet,” Sen. Chuck Schumer said from the floor on Monday. “On conflicts of interest, she ranks among the worst.”

“Frankly, Ms. Devos’ answers at the hearing were embarrassing,” he continued.

The rare move comes one day before the Senate is scheduled to cast their final vote on her nomination, which is likely to result in a 50-50 tie, with two Republican senators voting not to confirm DeVos. In the event of a tie, Vice President Mike Pence will cast the deciding vote. 

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We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

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