Citing differences with the Democratic leadership, Randi Weingarten resigned from the DNC after 23 years

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), resigned from the Democratic National Committee (DNC). After more than 15 years, the leader of the country's largest teachers union decided to step aside, blaming the current DNC chairman, Ken Martin. In a letter obtained by Politico, she let him know that she had irreconcilable disagreements with his leadership.

In addition to being a delegate to Democratic conventions since 1992, Weingarten has been a member of the DNC since 2002 and has served on the DNC's rules and bylaws committee since 2009. The powerful union member's resignation came on the heels of an internal revolt among the DNC leadership, which resulted in the ouster of David Hogg and Malcom Kenyatta as vice chairs of the body.

The trouble began when Hogg, a 25-year-old activist, unilaterally announced a $20 million campaign to unseat Democratic incumbents he considers "ineffective." Martin, chairman of the DNC, saw this as disavowing him, triggering an internal conflict that ended with a vote to oust both Hogg and Kenyatta from their respective posts. Both had taken office in January of this year.

In this context, Weingarten decided to step down from his position through the aforementioned letter: "The AFT's 1.8 million members are education, healthcare and public service workers who devote their lives to protecting kids and communities while paving pathways for a better life for all Americans. Sadly, this mission is under attack like never before. It is an existential battle that I hope the Democratic Party will support. At the same time, given the work ahead of us, I must decline the appointment."

"While I am proud to be a Democrat, I appear to be out of step with the leadership you are forging, and I do not want to be the one who keeps questioning why we are not enlarging our tent and actively trying to engage more and more of our communities," she added.