Appointments to the Education Department:
— Stanley Buchesky, senior adviser, budget and finance;
— Robert Eitel, senior counselor to the secretary;
— Jason Botel, principal deputy assistant secretary and acting assistant secretary for the Office of Elementary and Secondary Education;
— Candice Jackson, deputy assistant secretary for strategic operations and outreach and acting assistant secretary for the Office for Civil Rights;
— Ebony Lee, deputy chief of staff for policy;
— José Viana, assistant deputy secretary and director for the Office of English Language Acquisition;
— Jana Toner, White House liaison;
— Dougie Simmons, deputy chief of staff for operations;
— Kathleen Smith, special assistant to the secretary;
— Robert Goad, confidential assistant and education policy adviser on the White House Domestic Policy Council;
— Holly Ham, assistant secretary of education for management;
— Michael Oberlies, confidential assistant;
— Andrew Kossack, attorney adviser;
— Patrick Shaheen, confidential assistant;
— Jeffrey “Justin” Riemer, attorney adviser;
— Elizabeth “Liz” Hill, press secretary;
— Carrie Coxen, confidential assistant*;
— Nate Bailey, special assistant to the secretary;
— Michael Brickman, special assistant to the secretary;
— Michael Chamberlain, special assistant;
— Deborah Cox-Roush, special assistant to the secretary;
— Kevin Eck, special assistant to the secretary;
— Ronald Holden, special assistant;
— Amy Jones, special assistant to the secretary;
— Cody Reynolds, special assistant;
— Eric Ventimiglia, confidential assistant;
— Matthew Frendewey, special assistant to the secretary;
— Alexandra Hudson, confidential assistant;
— Gillum Ferguson, confidential assistant;
— Neil Ruddock, special assistant to the secretary;
— Sarah Delahunty, confidential assistant;
— Jessica Newman, special assistant*;
— Nathaniel Breeding, special assistant*;
— Martha Davis, confidential assistant*.
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Diane Ravitch's blog 
“Beachhead Team” reminds me of D-Day in Europe and the Marines invading islands in the Pacific during World War II.
The United States has an Agent Orange president who is invading the government he is supposed to support and lead. That makes the tag Agent Orange to represent Donald Trump appropriate. He’s a genetically altering poisonous substance.
With so many assistants, who needs a Secretary?
What on earth is a “confidential assistant” and why does she nine of these?
I conclude that she thinks of USDE as a personal and private framework for imposing her ideas on others, without an ounce of transparency. Why is nobody asking questions about these appointments?
Why? Because the GOP is dominated by corruption and corrosion caused by members of the wealthiest 0.1-percent, and the GOP holds the majority in both Houses of Congress and is on a path to stuff the U.S. Supreme Court with Alternative, far-right justices.
To shop for carpet samples to review? (Deutsch 29 stock photo of Devos working)
I found the answer to my question about “confidential assistants.” These are “schedule C pay scale” political appointees whose major job is to be loyal to the senior official who gets them a job. These positions are called plums, and they are actually listed in a “Plum Book.”
During the Obama adminiatration, the USDE website listed 14 “confidential” appointees—political operatives who were loyal to the appointed Secretary of Education: one deputy secretary, four under secretaries without a specific job assignment, two in the Civil Rights division, two in Elementary and Secondary Education. Other plum assignments were to: Career, Technical and Adult Education: Communications and Outreach; Legislation and Congressional Affairs; Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development; and Center for Faith-Based and Neighborhood Partnerships.
So far, Devos has 13 “special assistants, with eight of these designated as “special assistant to the secretary. Of the nine confidential assistants working for Devos, only one has a specific job assignment “education policy adviser on the White House Domestic Policy Council.”
I suppose that these vague job descriptions are in place to get some money flowing to all of DeVos’ staff until more specific job assignments (if any) become a matter of record.
Who are these people? Each must have a story and maybe some of us have been forced to work with them in some sad situation. If so, let us share some profiles.
Example: Holly Ham is a Hewlett Packard Executive. Google her. She us an Enterprise Sales Executive whatever that is in HP World. Not an education professional by any stretch of the DeVos imagination.
Don’t forget that according to Agent Orange, his appointees from corporate America are “Beachhead Teams” invading the federal government to suppress the U.S. Constitution, due process rights, the 1st Amendment.
The malignant narcissist calls this “draining the swamp”. Agent Orange knows what he is talking about because he is a cheating, lying, fraudulent swamp monster, and that swamp is his domain.
My first question is are any of these appointees, teachers, administrators, educational researchers or on staff at a University that offers programs the confer educational degrees? Considering how Trump and Betsy DeVos have no understanding of education pedagogy I am guessing that the positions were filled with friends and wealthy investors of Trump’s and DeVos’s. I continue to be appalled at dangerous path we are headed down.
“Pyramids”
A pyramid requires a base
A bunch of folks to make the case
For newer folks to join the race
Assistants holding up the place
The gold one percent
Upon the pyramid’s tip
Dripping diarrhea down