Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig calls on Secretary Betsy DeVos to retract her ‘be the resistance’ remarks and halt all efforts to obstruct the Biden administration’s prioritization of students and families over corporations and special interests

Herrig: “Your efforts to obstruct President-elect Biden’s administration are dangerous and frankly, unpatriotic. You must step aside and let the incoming administration clean up your mess without obstruction.”

Read the full letter here

Washington, DC – Today, Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig urged Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos in a letter to retract her obstructionist comments and commit to taking no further steps to hinder President-elect Biden’s administration from implementing its agenda of putting students, families, and public schools over corporations and special interest donors. After four years of prioritizing special interest groups and student loan corporations over students and struggling student loan borrowers, DeVos last week urged the Department of Education staff to continue her mission and “be the resistance” to President-elect Biden’s incoming administration. 

“Your efforts have been fought tooth and nail by students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and consumer protection advocates,” wrote Accountable.US President Kyle Herrig. “Those who have supported your agenda are often in the pocket of the corporations and special interest groups you helped while hurting students and student loan borrowers. It is time to stop standing with corporations and special interests and step aside to allow the Department of Education to once again work for students and families.” 

Read the full letter below or download it here.

December 21, 2020

The Honorable Betsy DeVos
Secretary of Education
U.S. Department of Education
400 Maryland Avenue SW
Washington, DC 20202

Dear Secretary DeVos,

As the president of the non-partisan government watchdog group Accountable.US, I urge you to immediately retract your comments to Department of Education staff to “be the resistance” towards the incoming administration and to publicly commit to ceasing any activity between now and Inauguration Day that would obstruct President-elect Biden’s administration from implementing its agenda of prioritizing students, families and public education over corporations and special interests. 

The Department of Education is facing a particularly challenging road ahead. In addition to working with public health officials to reopen schools for in-person learning in a safe manner, work must be done to undo your efforts to undermine public schools and prioritize corporations over students. During your time as secretary, you consistently sided with student loan corporations and for-profit institutions over students, even defying a court order to continue to deny relief to struggling student loan borrowers who had been defrauded by predatory for-profit colleges. Furthermore, the incoming administration has the daunting task of rebuilding the trust of agency career staff and the public that wilted during your tenure. You consistently demonized hardworking Department of Education staff, even arguing the department shouldn’t exist at all. 

Your efforts have been fought tooth and nail by students, parents, teachers, school administrators, and consumer protection advocates. Those who have supported your agenda are often in the pocket of the corporations and special interest groups you helped while hurting students and student loan borrowers. It is time to stop standing with corporations and special interests and step aside to allow the Department of Education to once again work for students and families. 

The controversies you faced as secretary were your own doing and a result of your efforts to undermine the Department of Education and everything it stands for. Your efforts to obstruct President-elect Biden’s administration are dangerous and frankly, unpatriotic. You must step aside and let the incoming administration clean up your mess without obstruction.

Sincerely,

Kyle Herrig
President, Accountable.US

Watchdog group Accountable.US recently launched the Accountable Senate War Room to fight back against those lawmakers who seek to overturn the will of the people by standing in the way of the smooth transition of power and the swift approval of nominees to ensure that the government can function and deliver results for the American people.

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