Education Secretary Betsy DeVos submitted her resignation Thursday night.
DeVos becomes the second person in Donald Trump's cabinet to resign in wake of the insurrection on the US Capitol by his supporters. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao, wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said she would be resigning earlier today.
"We should be highlighting and celebrating your Administration’s many accomplishments on behalf of the American people," DeVos wrote, per CNBC. "Instead, we are left to clean up the mess caused by violent protestors overrunning the U.S. Capitol in an attempt to undermine the people’s business."
"That behavior was unconscionable for our country," she continued. "There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is an inflection point for me."DeVos explained in her letter that "impressionable children" were watching and learning from what transpired yesterday.
DeVos's decision to leave comes less than two weeks away from the arrival of the Biden administration, which has already nominated Miguel Cardona to take over her post.
Her resignation follows an NBC News report that "informal discussions" have been held regarding whether or not to invoke the 25th Amendment, which dictates that Congress must intervene when a president is no longer capable of fulfilling their duties, but refuses to step down.
The resignations of DeVos and Chao has many wondering if they are trying to evade the pressure of having to invoke the 25th Amendment, which requires majority support from Trump's cabinet, along with Mike Pence.
Elizabeth Warren, who previously called DeVos "the worst Secretary of Education we’ve seen," was brutally honest when responding to the news of her resignation.
Mick Mulvaney, Trump's former acting chief of staff and current U.S. special envoy to Northern Ireland, has also decided to leave.
