U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced she is resigning from President Donald Trump’s cabinet immediately after supporters of the president breached the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday in protest of his election decline.
“Yesterday, our place knowledgeable a traumatic and solely avoidable function as supporters of the president stormed the Capitol creating adhering to a rally he tackled,” Chao stated in a assertion on Twitter. “As I’m absolutely sure is the situation with lots of of you it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply simply cannot established apart.”
Chao stated she is resigning as of Jan. 11 and will aid her announced successor, previous South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden.
She is the very first cabinet secretary to announce her departure immediately after the occasions and joins a escalating checklist of administration officers who have stepped down with two weeks right before the close of Trump’s term, such as previous White Dwelling Chief of Staff members Mick Mulvaney, who still left his submit as specific envoy to Northern Eire.
A single federal government official stated there may be supplemental cabinet resignations right before Monday.
Congress was in the middle of arguing about objections to the electoral vote rely from Arizona, an exertion pushed by a group of Republicans and inspired by Trump, when lawmakers ended up compelled to abruptly suspend the proceedings. Ultimately they ended up hustled out of the Dwelling and Senate chambers by safety as a mob surged into the Capitol, breaking windows and doorways.
Chao, 67, who is married to Senate The vast majority Chief Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, was appointed by Trump in 2017. She beforehand led the Labor Division for the complete 8 decades President George W. Bush was in office.
As secretary Chao has moved to loosen auto gas mileage criteria, cut down purchaser protections for airline travellers and to halt or loosen up quite a few safety guidelines that experienced been less than improvement in the prior administration.
Her resignation was described previously by the Washington Put up.
In a Dec. 31 Reuters job interview, Chao experienced stated she planned to keep on being on the task by way of Jan. 20 when Biden is due to acquire office.
Chao formerly was Deputy secretary of transportation and chairwoman of the Federal Maritime Fee.
She has also been main executive officer of United Way of The us and director of the Peace Corps. She worked as vice president of syndications at Bank of The us Funds Marketplaces Team and as a banker with Citicorp in New York.
Chao was the 18th transportation secretary in U.S. history, and the third woman to hold the submit adhering to Elizabeth Dole, who served less than President Ronald Reagan, and Mary Peters, who served less than George W. Bush.
Reuters contributed to this report.
