The Trump administration’s recently proposed budget for the 2020 fiscal year has drawn sharp criticism — including over its original inclusion of a complete elimination of almost $18 million in Education Department funding for the Special Olympics, which is a private organization but has routinely garnered significant sums from the government. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) dragged Education Secretary Betsy DeVos over her shallow defense of the proposal, pointing out that rather than the often controversial figure proving a voice for the underprivileged as she’s claimed, DeVos has a history of turning a blind eye — at best.
After DeVos whined at Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) for questioning her about the proposed cut, she shouted about how much she “loves” the program and that she’s given some of her salary to its support.
Ocasio-Cortez added:
‘Betsy DeVos “loves” the Special Olympics so much, she wants to cut federal funding for it. She “loves” students so much, she changed rules to make campus sexual assault victims more vulnerable. And she “loves” teachers so much she wants to cut student loan forgiveness, too.’
Betsy DeVos “loves” the Special Olympics so much, she wants to cut federal funding for it.
She “loves” students so much, she changed rules to make campus sexual assault victims more vulnerable.
And she “loves” teachers so much she wants to cut student loan forgiveness, too. https://t.co/Jv20rTVIu4
— Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (@AOC) March 28, 2019
It’s true — in her remarks, DeVos did not seek to rebuff the proposal from her own department for the Special Olympics to lose millions of dollars in funding, elsewhere calling the proposal a “tough choice” that had to be made. Leaving her hanging out there on a limb of passionately arguing for slashing funding to programs to support disabled people, President Donald Trump actually told reporters this Thursday that he’d directed his team to slash the proposal from the budget agenda.
DeVos quickly backtracked despite her self-righteous rhetoric before Congress that Ocasio-Cortez called out. She said she sees “eye-to-eye” on the president over funding the Special Olympics program and even pushed him to change his stance.
To be clear, the proposed cut never had much of a chance of passing anyway, and is one of many contentious points in the overall White House budget proposal that remains just that — a proposal. Congress has the final say on government spending.
Still, the issues remain with the DeVos-led Education Department, and her self-characterization as a white knight defending the disadvantaged against the onslaught of what she called a “shameful” and “disgusting” political argument against the Trump administration from Democrats is hollow at best.
Her team has pushed harsh new rules for sexual assault cases on college campuses that go so far as to allow accused rapists the chance to cross-examine their victims through an intermediary and narrow the definition of sexual harassment to only instances where the conduct is so “severe, pervasive and objectively offensive that it effectively denies a person equal access to the school’s education program or activity” — which is just waiting for assailants to tiptoe around and walk away free.
She has also, as Ocasio-Cortez mentions, led a charge against student loan forgiveness for those who’ve been left out in the cold by for-profit colleges, which she’s loosened regulations on.
Those who were concerned that she would hollow out the American educational system considering her past efforts undercutting public schools have been proven all too right.
Check out Twitter’s response to Ocasio-Cortez…
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