Betsy DeVos, former Secretary of Education under President Donald Trump, is admitting publicly for the first time that she discussed the possibility of invoking the 25th Amendment with other Cabinet members and then-Vice President Mike Pence following the January 6 US Capitol attack.
DeVos resigned on January 7, the day after Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. Before leaving, she told USA Today in a new interview on Thursday that she investigated whether using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was a viable option.
She claimed Pence told her that he would not support using the 25th Amendment and that his support would be required for such an effort to succeed.
“I spoke with the vice president and just let him know I was there to do whatever he wanted and needed me to do or help with, and he made it very clear that he was not going to go in that direction or that path,” DeVos told USA Today. “I spoke with colleagues. I wanted to get a better understanding of the law itself and see if it was applicable in this case. There were more than a few people who had those conversations internally.”
DeVos said she ultimately determined that using the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office was almost certainly not going to be a viable option and resigned later that day.