By: Lydia Wheeler & Mallory Shelbourne
Credo Action’s vice president and political director, Murshed Zaheed, said its members made 18,000 calls to members of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee on DeVos, targeting committee Democrats and key Republicans, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.).
Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.) has received more than 50,000 emails and letters opposing DeVos, according to his spokesman, John Rizzo.
And Sen. Tim Kaine‘s (D-Va.) spokeswoman, Sarah Peck, said Kaine has received more than 25,000 emails and letters about DeVos alone and the vast majority have been in opposition to her nomination.Calls to action on social media platforms like Facebook have included a list of Republican senators on the HELP Committee, urging people to phone offices in an attempt to block DeVos’s nomination.
In a series of tweets Tuesday, Murkowski, who sits on the committee, said her Alaska and D.C. offices have been “overwhelmed with calls from the lower 48, which has made it difficult for Alaskans to express their opinions.”
She said her staff is doing the best they can to manage the phone calls and listen to voicemails.
“We’re looking for solutions to manage the high [number] of calls,” she wrote, and advised her constituents to contact her online if they are having trouble getting through over the phone.
In a statement to The Hill Wednesday, Murkowski spokeswoman Jenna Mason confirmed that the office has been receiving a “higher than normal amount of calls,” but noted that they could be attributed to “a number of things.”
“The senator tweeted yesterday because she heard that some Alaskans were having trouble getting through to her offices and she wanted to make sure that she is able to hear from them, so she gave them alternative options to reach her,” she said.
Political advocacy group Every Voice teamed up with End Citizens United for a campaign heavily focused on DeVos. In a digital ad targeting senators who have received donations from the nominee, Every Voice urges constituents to call on their senators to recuse themselves from DeVos’s confirmation hearing.