The U.S. Senate this week confirmed Betsy DeVos as our next Secretary of Education.
DeVos has been arguably the cabinet pick who faced the most opposition, both from lawmakers and the public, and rightfully so. The billionaire admittedly never attended, nor had children attend, public schools; seems to lack a basic understanding of education concepts; supports voucher programs; has supported antigay causes; and comes from a wealthy family with questionable connections, among many other criticisms. (Not to mention, she gained infamy for her assertion that guns may be needed in schools to protect from grizzly bears … )
Those and other concerns drove an unprecedented level of constituent feedback to senators tasked with having the final say in DeVos’ appointment. One estimate had more than 1.5-million calls regarding cabinet picks, the majority of which were about DeVos, being logged in senators’ offices per day in the last week. Some constituents unable to get through sent emails, started Twitter campaigns and one woman even ordered a pizza to her senator, with a note attached urging a “no” vote on DeVos.
U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania was a particular target after two Republican senators announced they would oppose DeVos. Activists ramped up the pressure at their weekly “Tuesdays with Toomey” protests, his phones literally rang off the hook to the point where constituents took to faxing the senator; he received more than 8,000 faxes in just one day last week. One local woman even raised more than $60,000 — the amount Toomey’s campaign received from DeVos’ family, who contributed millions to more than 20 other Republican senators — to “buy” his vote.
Despite the seemingly unprecedented opposition to DeVos, Toomey this week joined the majority of his Republican colleagues and supported the candidate deemed by so many as woefully inadequate.
Toomey is a public servant. He doesn’t report to President Donald Trump or to his donors, he reports to us — his constituents. He had an opportunity this week to listen to us, to act in a non-partisan way and to oppose someone whose inexperience will be damaging to his constituents. He squandered that chance.
But we have a chance to ensure that this term is Toomey’s last. He won’t be up for re-election again until 2022, but that’s plenty of time to organize, fundraise for and rally a candidate to unseat him. And to remind Toomey as often as possible that history will judge him — as will voters.