Betsy DeVos gave a disturbing message to department staff to undermine Biden on her way out: report
On Tuesday, POLITICO reported that outgoing Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is urging civil servants at the Department of Education to "resist" President-elect Joe Biden once she is gone.
"Let me leave you with this plea: Resist," DeVos said during a department-wide conference call. "Be the resistance against forces that will derail you from doing what's right for students. In everything you do, please put students first — always."
DeVos, a billionaire who was long involved in Republican fundraising before her appointment and stated that she wanted to reshape public schools to build "God's kingdom," has been one of President Donald Trump's most controversial Cabinet members.
During her tenure, she relaxed civil rights protections for campus rape survivors and students with disabilities, and drastically cut back efforts to forgive student loans for people defrauded by defunct for-profit colleges, an effort that eventually led to her being held in contempt of court by a federal judge.
According to POLITICO, Trump has tapped Phil Rosenfelt to serve as acting Education Secretary when his administration ends and DeVos departs.
"Rosenfelt is the department's deputy general counsel and a longtime career employee," reported Michael Stratford. "He played the same role during the transition from the Obama administration to the Trump administration in 2017, serving as acting secretary of Education from late January of 2017 when Secretary John B. King Jr. left office until early February of that year, when DeVos was sworn in."
