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secretary of education

Twitter had some 'questions for Betsy,' and things got savage.

Betsy DeVos sat in front of a House committee today to answer questions about the education portion of President Donald Trump's proposed budget.

It ... didn't go super great.

Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images.

Congressmen and women on May 24, 2017, grilled her on the controversial details of her qualifications as secretary of education and her plan for America's students — namely accusations of shifting federal funds from public to private schools and deep cuts to after-school programs, both of which would disproportionately hurt lower-income students.

Meanwhile, people on Twitter had a few questions of their own they wanted DeVos to answer.

The hashtag #QuestionsForBetsy went viral in a hurry. It got savage even faster. While DeVos fielded justifiably hostile questions on Capitol Hill, thousands of comments poured in on social media.

To put it mildly, it wasn't a friendly crowd.

Some users demanded answers on why DeVos was ever named education secretary to begin with.

She has famously been accused of "buying" her way into the job with huge donations to Republicans.

A lot of people are rightfully still upset about it.

Some lashed out at specific DeVos' policies that, frankly, suck.

Like her sucky idea to eliminate the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program:

And her sucky support of a Trump policy to get rid of protected rights for trans students:

This woman reprimanded DeVos for not spending more time coming up with a plan teachers could get behind.

Teachers, if you haven't heard, aren't big fans of hers.

All day, questions and outrage poured in.

This one sums things up pretty dang well:

The huge response to #QuestionsForBetsy proves one thing: People are not happy with the Trump administration's plans for our schools.

With our kids' futures and the future of our country on the line, there are still way too many questions hanging.

Those questions are important, and they deserve to be answered.

With confirmation fast approaching, Democrats need to pick up one more vote against DeVos.

At noon on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2017, the U.S. Senate will vote on President Donald Trump's secretary of Education nominee.

This is normal. What's happening in the 24 hours leading up to the vote, on the other hand, is not normal at all.

In an effort to win over one of their Republican colleagues, Senate Democrats are pulling an all-night filibuster as they take turns making the case against Betsy DeVos, Trump's choice to head the Department of Education. For 24 hours, Democrats plan to hold the floor in the run-up to a vote that may very well determine the future of America's public education system.

DeVos speaks during her confirmation hearing on Jan. 17, 2017. Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP/Getty Images.

Two Republicans have already indicated plans to vote against DeVos. It'll take at least one more vote to tip the scales.

Last week, Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) came forward to announce that they would not vote to confirm DeVos. With the 46 Democrats, two Independents, and now two Republicans lining up against DeVos, it looks like there are 50 votes for confirmation and 50 votes against.

Should the vote end up being a tie, Vice President Mike Pence has indicated that he will cast a tie-breaking vote to confirm DeVos as the next Education secretary.

There are a number of reasons to oppose DeVos' nomination that should have people on both sides of the aisle feeling a bit nervous.

For one, DeVos has never attended or worked in a public school, her children have all gone to private schools, and she has no experience working in government or education. There's also the fact that she's a proponent of shifting tax dollars from public schools to charter programs in an effort to "advance God's kingdom" through the education system.

And finally, there's the simple matter of her nomination being "pay-to-play" politics at its absolute worst. DeVos and her family have donated more than $200 million to Republicans through the years. In 1997, she even wrote, "I have decided to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. ... We do expect something in return. We expect to foster a conservative governing philosophy consisting of limited government and respect for traditional American virtues. We expect a return on our investment."

Additionally, DeVos had a pretty disastrous confirmation hearing in which she suggested that guns in schools might be a good idea because of bears, showed ignorance about a federal disability law, dodged questions about protecting LGBTQ students and victims of sexual assault, and made it abundantly clear why her confirmation appears to be the one cabinet nomination that may not meet the required 51-vote threshold.

So far, the filibuster is off to a strong start, as Democratic senators implore their colleagues to prioritize the welfare of America's students over party lines.

No matter how this vote goes, it's good to see the Senate living up to its potential as one of the world's great deliberative bodies.

If there's a case to be made against (or for) DeVos, it will most certainly be made between now and tomorrow's vote. The exchange of ideas and action that follows is democracy in action.

It's even better to know that elected officials take into account what constituents think. Sen. Murkowski indicated that her decision to vote "no" was influenced by "thousands of Alaskans who have shared their concerns about Mrs. DeVos as Secretary of Education, by phone, in person, by email and through petition."

Between now and when the Senate votes on DeVos, there's still time for constituents to take action — whether it's calling their senators to thank them for their vote against DeVos or trying to convince them to change their minds.

If you're interested in calling but aren't sure what to say? No worries. 5 Calls is a great resource for calling your elected officials on any topic.

Watch the 24-hour action from the Senate floor filibuster here:

Hey, quick question: How are you doing? Are you hanging in there?

It's been a rough couple of weeks, no doubt about that. You don't need a recap; just flip on the news or check Facebook, and you'll be knocked over by the avalanche of horrifying political developments that have taken place over the past 14 days.

It's a little overwhelming, to be honest. Things have felt hopeless, and even all the good people out there fighting for what's good and right sometimes seem like just a drop in the ocean.

But I'm here to tell you it's not all bad! A lot of it is bad, definitely. But, somewhere scattered underneath all the rubble of alternative facts, Muslim bans, and special operations gone horrendously wrong is evidence that this world we live in is, indeed, worth the fight.

Victories big and small are happening, along with pieces of news that are just a welcome reprieve from the madness.

Here are seven awesome things that happened this week you may not have heard about.

1. An amazing federal judge in L.A. demanded an Iranian man with a valid visa be allowed into the country.

Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images.

According to Matt Hamilton of the L.A. Times, Ali Vayeghan had been waiting for years to fly from Tehran to see his son in Los Angeles. He just so happened to book his journey right as Donald Trump's already infamous executive order came down.

Vayeghan was detained when he arrived at LAX and promptly sent back to Iran by way of Dubai.

ACLU lawyers petitioned the courts and won a decision to honor Vayeghan's travel visa, but by then he was back in Dubai. So U.S. District Judge Dolly M. Gee told authorities to transport him back to the U.S. immediately.

No word yet on whether Vayeghan has been reunited with his son in the U.S., but knowing there are judges out there willing to uphold the Constitution is a victory in its own right.

2. We thought this adorable frog was extinct but recently discovered it was just hiding!

Science and discovery still matter, damnit. Just ask the cave squeaker, a small African frog that hadn't been seen for nearly 50 years.

That is until a team led by Robert Hopkins, an associate researcher with the Natural History Museum in Bulawayo, found a handful of them in Zimbabwe. The frogs had simply changed breeding sites, which made them hard to track down.

Scratching just one species off the extinct list is a major deal, and now we can work on protection and conservation for these little brown hoppers so they can thrive again one day soon.

3. A Texas mayor came out as transgender, and the support was overwhelming.

A transgender mayor of a small, red town in Texas? Sounds like a recipe for disaster, and that's what Jess Herbst expected when she came out this week as transgender.

Much to her surprise, the reaction from her friends, neighbors, and peers couldn't have been more supportive.

"I was hoping for tolerance, and what I've gotten is overwhelming support," she said, according to The Dallas Morning News.

Read her brave, and refreshingly honest, open letter to the people of her town on the official New Hope, Texas, website.

4. A woman arrested for firing a warning shot at her abusive husband was finally released from imprisonment.

In 2010, Marissa Alexander's husband threatened to kill her. Protecting herself and her newborn child, she fired a warning shot from a gun she owned and scared him off.

Though the bullet did not hit her husband, Rico Gray, and the fact that Gray had a known history of abusing her, Alexander was convicted of aggravated assault with a lethal weapon. She has been in prison and under house arrest ever since.

Until this week.

Having accepted a shortened sentence in 2015, Alexander's punishment is finally, and fortunately, over. She's now free. And though what happened to her was a travesty, her story is going to fuel the fires of anti-domestic violence workers everywhere for a long time to come.

We have a lot of work left to do.

5. The Boy Scouts are finally allowing transgender boys to join.

Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images.

The Boy Scouts have not always been known as the most, er, progressive organization on the block. It took them a pretty long time to get comfortable with the idea of gay troop leaders, all the while doing a pretty poor job of handling accusations of abuse.

But, hey, this week at least, there's some progress.

The Boy Scouts of America finally announced it would honor the gender listed on a child's application instead of the birth certificate. This paves the way for kids who identify as boys to join.

After all, everyone deserves the chance to learn how to tie sweet knots and race wooden cars.

6. Two Republican senators vowed to vote "no" on Trump's pick for secretary of Education.

You may have heard a little about Betsy DeVos, who is currently awaiting confirmation to become secretary of Education. In short, she is immensely unqualified for the job.

Unfortunately, that hasn't stopped some of Trump's other picks from coasting their way into his cabinet.

This time, though, it seems there may be a few Republicans willing to stand up for what's right rather than playing party politics. Both Republican senators Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska said they could not support DeVos in the upcoming vote.

Whether that ultimately affects her path to the job remains to be seen, but it's at least a good sign not everyone in the GOP is willing to let Trump have his way when the stakes are high.

7. Beyoncé and Jay Z are having twins. Twins!

Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images.

OK, this might seem trivial, but it's honestly been a while since a non-Trump story grabbed the country's attention the way Beyoncé's Instagram post announcing her pregnancy did.

We need trivial and giddy news like this to nourish our souls.

Think about it — we used to complain, but don't you kind of miss the days when pictures of cute puppies and all the latest Brangelina rumors ruled the internet? So do I.

Queen Bey has brought us back to that time, if only for a moment.

There's bound to be great news next week, too. You just have to look a little harder for it these days. But I promise you, it's worth it!