For Immediate Release
Monday, January 30, 2017
Contact: Adam Bozzi, [email protected], 202-798-5253
Young took nearly $50,000 from Betsy DeVos and her family to help get elected; now, he’s set to vote on her nomination
Money-in-politics reform group End Citizens United (ECU) today released a new web video targeting Senator Todd Young of Indiana.
Young has refused to recuse himself from voting on the nomination of Betsy DeVos for Education Secretary, despite a blatant conflict of interest. He accepted nearly $50,000 from DeVos and her family during his Senate campaign last year. DeVos has said of her donations that she has “decided…to stop taking offense at the suggestion that we are buying influence. Now I simply concede the point. They are right. We do expect some things in return.”
The ad, which features his constituents in Indiana calling on Young to recuse himself, highlights Washington’s rigged system that favors mega-donors and corporate special interests while leaving the rest of America behind. The ad also supports the ‘Call Your Senator’ campaign the groups are running by urging viewers to call Senator Young’s office to demand his recusal.
“In less than a month as a US Senator, Todd Young has already turned his back on Hoosier families,” said Tiffany Muller, Executive Director at End Citizens United. “Hoosiers are fed up with Washington’s pay-to-play politics, and they’re calling on Senator Young to recuse himself. It would be unethical for him to vote on the nomination of one of his mega-donors who has said she wants something in return for her campaign cash.”
The digital ad is the latest component of End Citizens United and Every Voice’s campaign to pressure the five senators on the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee who took campaign money from DeVos to recuse themselves. The committee is set to vote on her nominationtomorrow.
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