This just in via CNN:
Republican Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska both said Wednesday they would not vote to support President Donald Trump's choice for education secretary, Betsy DeVos, the first two sitting Republican senators to publicly say they wouldn't back one of Trump's Cabinet nominees.
"I simply cannot support her confirmation," Collins said on the Senate floor.
Without Murkowski or Collins, DeVos would need the vote of Vice President Mike Pence to win approval if all Democrats voted against her.
The count is now 49 Senators for DeVos and now 50 for Devos. We need one more Republican Senator and I know who to target:
Over the weekend, Julie Krug’s daughter took her advocacy a step further, and penned a letter to newly reelected US Senator Pat Toomey, R-Pa.
Her subject was not one of the latest controversies to roil American society — not the travel ban or which president had the bigger crowd size. Instead, 8-year-old Mazie was moved to discuss a matter that’s been largely pushed aside by the capricious 24-hour news cycle, but close to the hearts of Philly education activists: Trump’s pick for secretary of education.
“Please do not vote for Betsy DeVos,” she wrote her senator in advance of Tuesday’s confirmation vote. “If you do, her policies will cut public school’s funds.”
What does Mazie think will happen then? “America will be full of unbelievably unsmart people,” she explained to Sen. Toomey.
Toomey is facing more and more pressure from growing number of protestors outside his office and conservative are afraid he’ll balk on this one. But I think it’s worth a serious effort here to crush this nomination. Below are Toomey’s office locations and numbers and click here for his e-mail:
Washington, D.C.
248 Russell Senate Office Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Phone: (202) 224-4254
Fax: (202) 228-0284
Scranton
538 Spruce Street
Suite 302
Scranton, PA 18503
Phone: (570) 941-3540
Fax: (570) 941-3544
Allentown/Lehigh Valley
1150 S. Cedar Crest Blvd Suite 101
Allentown, PA 18103
Phone: (610) 434-1444
Toll-free phone (for callers in PA): 1-855-552-1831
Fax: (610) 434-1844
Philadelphia
8 Penn Center
1628 John F. Kennedy Blvd.
Suite 1702
Philadelphia, PA 19103
Phone: (215) 241-1090
Fax: (215) 241-1095
Harrisburg
United States Federal Building
228 Walnut St.
Suite 1104
Harrisburg, PA 17101
Phone: (717) 782-3951
Fax: (717) 782-4920
Johnstown
Richland Square III, Suite 302
1397 Eisenhower Blvd
Johnstown, PA 15904
Phone: (814) 266-5970
Fax: (814) 266-5973
Pittsburgh
100 W. Station Square Dr.
Suite 225
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 803-3501
Fax: (412) 803-3504
Erie
United States Federal Building
17 South Park Row
Suite B-120
Erie, PA 16501
Phone: (814) 453-3010
Fax: (814) 455-9925