Betsy DeVos
American politician & philanthropist
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| January 8 2021 | Resignation took effect, ending her term as Secretary of Education before Joe Biden's inauguration. |
| January 7 2021 | Tendered her resignation as education secretary in response to the January 6 United States Capitol attack. |
| 2020 | Josh Venable joined REPAIR (Republican Political Alliance for Integrity and Reform), an anti-Trump group led by former White House officials. |
| 2020 | DeVos redirected millions of dollars of coronavirus relief funds from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act away from public schools and colleges to private and religious schools. |
| September 2020 | The Office of the Special Counsel investigated DeVos for potential Hatch Act violations after she appeared on Fox News criticizing Joe Biden during the election campaign, with the Department of Education subsequently promoting her interview. |
| July 12 2020 | During the coronavirus pandemic, DeVos publicly stated 'there's nothing in the data that suggests that kids being in school is in any way dangerous to them', contradicting public health experts' concerns about school reopenings. |
| 2019 | DeVos unsuccessfully attempted to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics from her department's budget, which was a repeat of her previous two annual budget proposals. |
| November 2019 | Truth In Advertising filed complaints against Neurocore with the FDA and FTC for unapproved medical devices and deceptive marketing. |
| May 2019 | The Education Department inspector general released a report finding that DeVos used personal email accounts for government business and failed to properly preserve these emails. |
| March 21 2019 | Drag queen Scarlet Envy portrayed DeVos as 'silly' and 'martini-swilling' in the RuPaul's Drag Race season 11 episode 'Trump: The Rusical'. |
| December 3 2018 | Her financial disclosure form was certified by the Office of Government Ethics, revealing she had not divested from 24 required assets nearly 22 months after her confirmation. |
| October 2018 | Josh Venable was replaced as DeVos's chief of staff by Nate Bailey, who was previously her chief of communications. |
| September 12 2018 | DeVos lost a lawsuit brought by 19 states and the District of Columbia, which accused the Department of Education of improperly delaying student loan borrower protection regulations. |
| May 2018 | DeVos stated that reporting undocumented students or their families to ICE should be 'a school decision', which was challenged as potentially unconstitutional by the ACLU. |
| May 2018 | The New York Times reported that under DeVos, the team investigating abuses and fraud by for-profit colleges was reduced from about twelve members to three, with Julian Schmoke (a former DeVry Education Group dean) appointed as the team's new supervisor. |
| March 2018 | DeVos announced a School Safety Commission with four Cabinet members to provide recommendations on school safety. |
| March 2018 | Kate McKinnon satirized DeVos's 60 Minutes interview on Saturday Night Live. |
| March 2018 | Randy Rainbow created a satirical 'interview' with DeVos based on her 60 Minutes interview. |
| March 2018 | In a 60 Minutes interview with Lesley Stahl, DeVos was questioned about the lack of demonstrated positive results from her school choice programs in Michigan, unable to provide concrete examples of improvement. |
| January 2018 | DeVos gave a speech citing an American Federation of Teachers survey about teachers' classroom influence, which the AFT disputed and claimed DeVos had disrespected educators. |
| October 2017 | DeVos revoked 72 guidance documents from the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services that outlined rights of disabled students under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act and the Rehabilitation Act. |
| July 13 2017 | Candice Jackson organized a meeting with DeVos, college sexual assault victims, accused assailants, and higher education officials to review Obama-era campus sexual assault policies. |
| July 6 2017 | 18 Democratic state attorneys-general and Washington, D.C., led by Massachusetts Attorney-General Maura Healey, filed a federal lawsuit against DeVos for suspending implementation of rules protecting students at for-profit colleges. |
| June 6 2017 | During a House appropriations committee appearance, DeVos stated that states' rights would determine the allocation of federal funds to private schools. |
| June 2 2017 | DeVos announced her support of President Trump's decision to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. |
| May 22 2017 | DeVos announced the Trump administration's most ambitious expansion of school choice in American history, citing Indiana's voucher program as a potential nationwide model. |
| May 10 2017 | DeVos gave a controversial commencement speech at Bethune-Cookman University, where students booed her and turned their backs during her address. She also received an honorary doctorate from the university. |
| April 2017 | Betsy DeVos praised President Trump's nomination of Carlos G. Muñiz as the Education Department's general counsel. |
| April 2017 | DeVos named Candice Jackson as Deputy Assistant Secretary in the Office for Civil Rights and Jason Botel as Deputy Assistant Secretary for Elementary and Secondary Education. |
| April 11 2017 | DeVos rescinded Obama administration policy memos by John King Jr. and Ted Mitchell that were designed to protect student loan borrowers. |
| April 6 2017 | DeVos was confronted by approximately 30 protesters during her first visit to a public university, while touring a hospital ward-like area at Florida International University. |
| March 29 2017 | DeVos delivered her first extended policy address at the Brookings Institution, focusing on school choice and criticizing the Obama administration's approach to funding underperforming schools. |
| March 24 2017 | During a visit to Valencia College's Osceola County campus, DeVos considered extending federal financial aid for year-round students and potentially increasing focus on community colleges. |
| February 2017 | The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon featured a parody of the Education Department's Twitter typos, with Jo Firestone portraying Betsy DeVos. |
| February 2017 | Artist Glenn McCoy created a political cartoon titled 'Trying to Trash Betsy DeVos', which was based on Norman Rockwell's 'The Problem We All Live With'. |
| February 2017 | DeVos released a controversial statement about historically black colleges as 'pioneers of school choice', later acknowledging racism as a significant factor in their origin. |
| February 2017 | Confirmed as U.S. Secretary of Education, beginning her tenure with an ethics agreement requiring divestment from certain assets. |
| February 10 2017 | During her first official appearance as Secretary of Education, Betsy DeVos was blocked by protesters at Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C., and had to enter through a side entrance. |
| February 7 2017 | Confirmed as Secretary of Education by the Senate with a historic 51-50 vote, with Vice President Mike Pence breaking the tie. |
| February 3 2017 | Cloture was invoked on DeVos's nomination in an unusually early 6:30 a.m. Senate vote, requiring a final confirmation vote after 30 hours of debate. |
| January 31 2017 | Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions approved her nomination on a party-line vote. |
| January 17 2017 | Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held DeVos's confirmation hearing, which became a heated partisan debate with intense questioning about her wealth, political donations, and education background. |
| January 10 2017 | DeVos's initial confirmation hearing was scheduled, but delayed for one week after the Office of Government Ethics requested more time to review her financial disclosures. |
| 2016 | Douglas N. Harris published a New York Times op-ed criticizing DeVos's role in the Detroit charter school system, arguing she was responsible for a major school reform disaster with no effective oversight. |
| 2016 | The foundation reported $14.3 million in donations to over 100 organizations, including the X Prize Foundation, Mars Hill Bible Church, and American Enterprise Institute. |
| November 23 2016 | President-elect Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate DeVos as Secretary of Education. |
| March 2016 | During the Republican Party presidential primaries, Betsy DeVos initially supported Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina, later shifting support to Marco Rubio. She publicly criticized Donald Trump, describing him as an 'interloper' who 'does not represent the Republican Party'. |
| 2015 | Betsy DeVos became chairman of the Foundation for Excellence in Education (ExcelinEd), an education think tank originally founded by Jeb Bush. |
| 2015 | The DeVos Foundation made $11.6 million in charitable contributions, bringing the couple's lifetime charitable giving to $139 million. Forbes ranked the DeVos family No. 24 on its list of America's top givers. |
| 2012 | DeVos and her husband produced the Broadway play Scandalous: The Life and Trials of Aimee Semple McPherson, which ran for three weeks and closed in December after receiving negative reviews. |
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