Betsy DeVos Resigns as Pressure Builds on Cabinet to Remove Trump

© Andrew Harnik/Getty Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has resigned from her position Thursday night. The Associated Press reports that President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric” was the “inflection point” that made her leave the administration.

U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned Thursday evening, citing President Donald Trump’s “rhetoric” ahead of the Wednesday riot at the U.S. Capitol as an “inflection point.” She is the latest member to resign, amid increasing pressure from both Republicans and Democrats for Trump to be removed from office.

DeVos is the latest member of Trump’s administration to resign after Trump supporters breached the Capitol building in an attempt to prevent the Congressional certification of President-elect Joe Biden. Many lawmakers have blamed Trump for the riots, alleging that his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud were a factor in his election loss. Some have asked Vice President Mike Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment of the Constitution, which would allow Pence to remove Trump from office until Biden is inaugurated.

According to the Wall Street Journal, DeVos said in her resignation letter to Trump that his 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.”

“Impressionable children are watching all this,” DeVos added, “and they are learning from us.”

Newsweek reached out to the Department of Education for comment.

President-elect Joe Biden had been a harsh critic of DeVos, telling a National Education Association forum in June 2019 that his first act if elected would be to “make sure that the Secretary of Education is not Betsy DeVos, it is a teacher.”

Video: ‘Blatant attack on American democracy’: NorCal lawmakers respond to Trump supporters storming US Capitol (KCRA Sacramento)

‘Blatant attack on American democracy’: NorCal lawmakers respond to Trump supporters storming US Capitol

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Along with DeVos, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, Northern Ireland special envoy and former chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, White House social secretary Rickie Niceta and others in Trump’s administration have tendered their resignation since the riot.

Pence has not stated publicly that he would invoke the 25th Amendment against Trump. However, some lawmakers have said that if Pence does not remove Trump via the 25th Amendment, impeachment proceedings would be brought against Trump.

In a Thursday interview with Anderson Cooper on CNN, Donald Trump’s niece Mary Trump said that the recent spate of resignations was “not out of protest, but so they don’t have to be involved in any 25th Amendment issues.”

This is a breaking story and will be updated as more information becomes available.

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