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DeVos to lawmakers: Reject Biden agenda, keep Trump policies
In a farewell letter to Congress on Monday, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos urged lawmakers to reject President-elect Joe Biden’s education agenda, while imploring them to shield Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate.
DeVos does not explicitly acknowledge President Donald Trump’s election defeat nor does she refer to Biden by name. Instead, her letter offers lawmakers “some encouragement and closing thoughts.” As DeVos prepares to exit the Education Department, she says the coronavirus pandemic has exposed much that is “not encouraging” about U.S. education.
“While my time as Secretary is finite, my time as an advocate for children and students knows no limits,” she said in the letter, obtained by The Associated Press. It was sent to leaders in the House and Senate and to committees that oversee the Education Department.
DeVos offered an unemotional farewell to a Congress that had a chilly relationship with her from the start. Her 2017 Senate confirmation required a tiebreaking vote from Vice President Mike Pence, and she remained a persistent target for Democrats in both chambers.
DeVos made no mention of those disputes but instead offered “sincere gratitude for your partnership” on a range of education issues. Most of her major policies, however, were enacted through federal rulemaking and not through legislation passed by Congress. In her letter, she pledged to continue working with Congress “doing what’s right for America’s students.”
Much of the letter serves as a final appeal for school choice legislation that DeVos pushed for nearly two years while failing to gain support from Democrats and many Republicans. The proposal would provide tax breaks for donations to organizations that sponsor students attending private schools or other alternatives to traditional public education.
Critics have said the idea amounts to a federal voucher program, but DeVos said it would empower families to choose the best options for their children.
Ruined vaccine doses: A Wisconsin pharmacist convinced the world was “crashing down” told police he tried to ruin hundreds of doses of coronavirus vaccine because he believed the shots would mutate people’s DNA, according to court documents released Monday.
Police in Grafton, about 20 miles north of Milwaukee, arrested Advocate Aurora Health pharmacist Steven Brandenburg last week following an investigation into the 57 spoiled vials of the Moderna vaccine, which officials say contained enough doses to inoculate more than 500 people. Charges are pending.
“He’d formed this belief they were unsafe,” Ozaukee County District Attorney Adam Gerol said during a virtual hearing. He added that Brandenburg was upset because he was in the midst of divorcing his wife, and an Aurora employee said Brandenburg had taken a gun to work twice.
Breon na Taylor case fallout: A Kentucky police detective facing termination in connection with his role in the raid that left Breonna Taylor dead has met with his police chief, an attorney said Monday.
Detectives Myles Cosgrove and Joshua Jaynes received notice last week from Louisville interim police Chief Yvette Gentry that she intends to fire them. Both were scheduled to appear for termination hearings Monday.
Jaynes met with Gentry on Monday “to explain his perspective surrounding the investigation and proposed discipline,” according to a statement from Jaynes’ attorneys provided to media outlets. Jaynes is awaiting Gentry’s decision, the statement said.
Cosgrove’s attorney did not reply to a message seeking information about his status Monday.
Census data dispute: Attorneys for a coalition of municipalities and advocacy groups say they plan to seek court sanctions against Trump administration attorneys for refusing to turn over data and documents about the quality of the 2020 census as part of a lawsuit over the once-a-decade count of every U.S. resident.
Attorneys for the coalition said Monday in a court filing that the Department of Justice has produced data reports for only half of the requests they have made. When Trump administration attorneys did provide information, it was buried in thousands of pages of irrelevant material such as emails for pizza and handbag advertisements and LinkedIn notifications, according to the court filing.
The attorneys for the coalition described the Trump administration’s playbook as “deny information and the existence of documents; produce dribs and drabs only when ordered or uncovered; attempt to hide as many documents as possible under exaggerated and improper claims of privilege; and do everything to try and run out the clock.”
The Department of Justice is representing the Census Bureau, and the Commerce Department, which oversees the statistical agency, in the lawsuit.
Mounting Niger violence:
More than 100 civilians were killed in Niger over the weekend by extremists who attacked two villages, as insurgent violence mounts in the West African nation.
The attacks on the western villages of Tchombangou and Zaroumdareye took place on the same day that Niger announced that presidential elections would go to a second round Feb. 21.
Niger’s Prime Minister Brigi Rafini visited the two villages Sunday.
“We came to provide moral support and present the condolences of the president of the republic, the government and the entire Niger nation,” he said.
The villages in the insecure Tillaberi region were attacked Saturday after residents killed two rebel fighters, local officials said.
Medal of Freedom to Nun es: President Donald Trump on Monday presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom to one of his most outspoken congressional allies, California Rep. Devin Nunes, as he looks to reward loyalists with just over two weeks left in his term.
Nunes, the former chair of the House Intelligence Committee, has been an ardent backer of Trump during probes into Russian interference in the 2016 election and the president’s 2019 impeachment by the Democratic-led House.
In a statement, the White House credited Nunes with uncovering “the greatest scandal in American history,” referencing Nunes’ efforts to discredit the Russia investigation.
Ohio Rep. Jim Jordan, one of the GOP leaders trying to undermine confidence in the results of the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden, is expected to receive the award next week.