DeVos family of Michigan ends support for Amash

The influential DeVos family of Michigan has said it will end its longtime support of Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) following remarks he made accusing President Trump of committing impeachable offenses.

The family of GOP megadonors, which includes current Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, said it has not made any contributions to Amash this cycle and has “no plans to do so,” according to a statement provided to The Detroit News.

A family spokesperson added that the family had made the decision to cut ties with Amash before his controversial tweets suggesting Trump should be impeached.

“Family members have expressed increasingly concerns about a lack of representation for their district, the third congressional, and I would say an inability to advance efforts connected to important policy matters,” the spokesperson told the newspaper.

The 39-year-old lawmaker, known to be a rare dissenting voice on many popular issues within his own party, caused a storm in Washington earlier this week when he became the first Republican to openly support impeachment.

“Mueller’s report identifies multiple examples of conduct satisfying all the elements of obstruction of justice, and undoubtedly any person who is not the president of the United States would be indicted based on such evidence,” Amash said in a tweet. The comments sparked immediate backlash from GOP officials as well as Trump himself, who called Amash “a total lightweight.” 

In the ensuing fallout, Amash has found a new primary challenger in state Rep. Jim Lower (R) and been the brunt of criticism from members of his own Freedom Caucus, including its leader, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.).

“Mr. Amash’s conclusions are poorly informed and fatally flawed,” Meadows told The Hill on Monday.

The move by the DeVos family comes after years of publicly supporting Amash. Betsy DeVos and her husband endorsed the lawmaker during his first run for Congress in 2010. 

The family most recently gave him a combined total of $24,300 to his reelection campaign in 2018, according to the Detroit News.

Their decision also comes as Amash has floated running as a third-party candidate to challenge Trump in 2020. Speaking to The Hill on Tuesday, Amash said he was still not ruling it out.

“I’m just focused on defending the Constitution, it’s not something I’ve thought about,” he said. “I don’t take things off the table like that, but it’s not something at the forefront of my considerations right now. I’m just focused on my job. I wouldn’t take running for governor off the table or Senate or statehouse, I don’t take things off the table.” 

Amash’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.