U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has submitted her resignation, citing President Donald Trump’s role in inciting the riot on Capitol Hill.
The Washington Post reports that the resignation is effective Friday.
“There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me,” DeVos wrote in a letter to Trump.
DeVos has served as education secretary for Trump's entire four-year term and has been one of the president’s most loyal Cabinet secretaries.
She barely won Senate confirmation in 2017; Vice President Mike Pence had to cast a vote to break a 50-50 deadlock and approve DeVos' nomination.
The National Education Association, which opposed many of the policies advocated by DeVos, described her tenure as a failure.
“Resigning 13 days before the end of this administration does nothing to erase the harm Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has done to this country’s students, their families and educators," NEA President Becky Pringle said. "She has failed our students yet again when they needed her most. Her complicity, cowardice, and complete incompetence will be her legacy."
On Wednesday, DeVos criticized the “angry mob” that attacked the Capitol, but that statement did not mention Trump or indicate that she was considering resignation.
DeVos was expected to depart as education secretary on Jan. 20, when Joe Biden is sworn in as president.
Biden has chosen Connecticut education commissioner Miguel Cardona to succeed Devos as education secretary.
