Betsy DeVos: Trump Education Secretary presents resignation

Transport Secretary Elaine Chao also resigned after “taking time to absorb” the Capitol insurrection and the president’s response to it. “Today, there was a lot of reflection and discussion,” said a senior government official. “It was obviously the right thing to do.”

The resignations began on Wednesday with First Lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, the White House social secretary, a deputy press secretary and Trump’s deputy national security adviser, all leaving before the evening was over. . Other officials, sources told CNN, were considering resigning.

After hundreds of pro-Trump protesters pushed through the barriers placed along the perimeter of the Capitol, the protesters finally managed to enter the building and the floor of the Chamber was evacuated by the police.

Only after pleading with Congressional aides and allies within the besieged Capitol, did Trump release a video urging protesters to “go home” while still fanning their baseless complaints about a stolen election.

DeVos said in a statement released Wednesday night: “The eyes of America’s children and students – the new generation that will inherit the republic that we left them – are watching what is happening in Washington today. We must set a better example for them, and we must teach them the solemn obligations and duties that come with the title ‘American’. “

A peaceful transfer of power, she said, “is what separates American representative democracy from banana republics.”

A major Republican donor and school choice activist, DeVos was chosen to head the Department of Education in 2016. The president hailed her in a statement at the time as “a brilliant and passionate advocate for education.”

“Under his leadership, we will reform the educational system in the United States and break the bureaucracy that is holding our children so that we can offer world-class education and school options for all families.”

This is a last-minute story and will be updated.