While you were sleeping, Senate Democrats were holding court on the Senate floor, part of a 24-hour effort to highlight the unusually large amount of opposition to President Trump's education secretary pick, Betsy DeVos. All 48 Democrats and two Republicans are expected to vote against DeVos, and part of the Democratic marathon was aimed at peeling away one more Republican. "I am encouraging my colleagues to search your hearts, step aside from party politics and pay to play in politics, and fight for the children of the United States of America," Sen. Jeff Merkeley (D-Ore.) said before dawn. Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii) noted the deluge of phone calls from constituents opposed to DeVos. "You can ask the Senate Republicans whether they're getting phone calls, too — they're getting phone calls, too," he said.
Democrats point out that DeVos, a Michigan billionaire and activist for taxpayer-funded school choice, has no personal or professional experience in public education or elected public office, and seemed really unprepared in her confirmation hearing. Her Republican supporters celebrate that she's an outsider and say Democrats and the horde of constituents calling them are just taking out their bitterness at Trump's election on DeVos. "She is having her 15 minutes of fame — at the wrong time," Mike Petrilli of the pro-school-choice Thomas B. Fordham Institute tells USA Today. The vote on DeVos is expected at noon. You can watch some excerpts from the Democrats' all-nighter in this video from The Associated Press, followed by a more curated report from CNN. Peter Weber
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Heavenly spectacle in the wilds of CanadaThe Week Recommends ‘Mind-bending’ outpost for spotting animals – and the northern lights
-
Facial recognition: a revolution in policingTalking Point All 43 police forces in England and Wales are set to be granted access, with those against calling for increasing safeguards on the technology
-
Sudoku hard: December 14, 2025The daily hard sudoku puzzle from The Week
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
