Roughly 500 people gathered in a park near the Senate on February 6 to ask for “one more vote” against confirming Betsy DeVos to be the next Secretary of Education.
At the time of the rally, all 48 Democrats and 2 Republicans had vowed to vote against her confirmation. The Senate was engaged in a non-stop debate. However, when it was all over, there were still 50 votes on each side. Vice President Mike Pence, in his capacity as President of the Senate, broke the tie and Betsy DeVos was confirmed.
Many questions had been raised about her qualifications, since she had no experience in the public schools. Signs also poked fun at her recent statement that guns might be necessary in schools to protect children from grizzly bears.
![A lantern slideshows four overlapping illustrations of the Earth depicting its tilt at different time periods in the past, present and future. Dates represented are 13000 BC, 5544 BC, 1921 AD, 2296AD. Handwritten in blue ink at bottom left corner of plate is the text 'G53 CLW [illegible] Aug '22'.](https://i0.wp.com/publicseminar.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/Wragge_Earth.jpg?fit=768%2C749&ssl=1)
