The HELP committee approved her, and then two members of that committee who voted "yes" to send her on to the full Senate indicated that they would vote No to her appointment to the USED Secretary post.
So. We're not done yet.
Contact your Senator. If you know they're voting against DeVos, thank them and let them know that you support their choice (because you can be sure they're getting pressure from Important People who think they should change their minds). If you know they're voting for DeVos, keep the pressure on anyway. Let them know that there is a price they're paying for that support. Make them know that the vote is costing them something.
And if you're not sure, contact them anyway. Often. By phone. By fax. Repeatedly.
Congressmen and their staffs are reporting that they've never taken such an electronic hammering. The numbers being reported are staggering-- five figures, six figures.
She may still be approved, but we have already won a victory. We have already made the Trump administration pay a price, made them use some of their juice to make this happen. The roar of opposition has jarred loose many of the people who have been anti-DeVos silently. Good lord-- Eli Broad, charter booster and reformster extraordinaire, came out against DeVos today. If DeVos takes the office, she and Trump and the GOP Senators who put her there will know, despite their bluster, that we are paying attention, watching, looking over their collective shoulders.
A DeVos defeat would be extraordinary, virtually unprecedented. And it could still happen.
So here's the link to FaxZero, the suddenly-famous service that will send up to five free faxes a day without any need for a sign-up or an account-- and they already have Senate fax numbers programmed in and ready to go. And here's the link for emails and phone numbers.
The vote is now expected as early as Friday morning, so send something tonight before you got to bed, tomorrow before you go to work, and any other spare minute you have during the day. If they are going to foist this unqualified menace on us, make them feel like they are climbing up a steep hill in a heavy hailstorm to do it.
Maybe-- just maybe-- we can make some history. But there is no doubt that we can make some noise while we make ourselves felt in Washington.
It's a strange, strange world when Eli Broad & I are on the same side of an education issue.
ReplyDeleteDear Mr. Greene:
ReplyDeleteWell, I did fax my two Senators last night (Thursday 2.2.17) and I want to thank you for providing the link to the free fax. Thanks!
On the other hand, if Eli Broad has come out against her to all the Senators it means her dinghy is dead in the water. So it does make my little fax simply an extra “me, too!” exercise.
The Inner Cynic in me also wants to argue that Mr. Broad has a candidate in mind that will do HIS educational program down to the letter instead of going off track, either on purpose or through bungling.(Hush Inner Cynic!)
Thanks for all the encouraging words!
Leila