Mike Pence Breaks 50-50 Tie to Confirm Betsy DeVos as Education Secretary

Vice President Mike Pence broke a 50-50 tie Tuesday to confirm billionaire Betsy DeVos, whose self-proclaimed education mission is to "advance God's kingdom," as the new education secretary. Speaking with CNN moments before the confirmation, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut outlined the fears surrounding DeVos.

"You put those two things together, lack of compassion for what's happened to places like Sandy Hook and an inability to just understand the basic law around vulnerable students, and it was clear at the end of that hearing that this was someone who shouldn't be the secretary of education," Murphy said.

DeVos' hearing last month was, as the subsequent memes made strikingly clear, a truly surreal (post-truth?) display of extreme levels of WTF. Pressed by Murphy during the hearing on the potential presence of guns in schools, DeVos failed to definitively oppose the idea. Her reasoning? "Potential grizzlies."

But there's more (much more) where that came from. Following news of DeVos' confirmation, Twitter understandably erupted into a discussion on her distinct lack of qualifications and some troubling affiliations:

*pours stiffest possible drink, downs it, then immediately pours another*