[ad_1]
WASHINGTON: U.S. Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao and Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos resigned on Thursday (January 7), joining a list of officials who resigned from President Donald Trump’s administration in protest of the assault on the United States Capitol by his supporters.
Chao, the wife of Republican Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, said in an email to staff that the mob attack “has deeply concerned me in a way that I just can’t put aside.” He said his resignation will take effect on Monday.
In a letter to Trump, DeVos said the attack on the Capitol was inconceivable. “There is no question of the impact his rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the turning point for me,” he wrote, adding that his resignation would be effective on Friday.
READ: Four dead, 52 arrested after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol.
READ: Woman killed at the site of the United States Capitol was a veteran who embraced conspiracy theories
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on DeVos’ resignation.
With less than two weeks to go in Trump’s presidency, many attendees were already heading for the door, but the sudden exodus suggested revulsion among some for their encouragement of supporters who brought chaos to Capitol Hill Wednesday in a ultimately futile attempt. to avoid the formal certification of electoral victory by Democrat Joe Biden.
Deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, one of Trump’s top China policy advisers, abruptly resigned on Wednesday, a senior administration official said.
Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, followed, a second senior official said.
Republican Trump’s promise on Thursday for an “orderly transition” on January 20 was partly intended to prevent further resignations, but the second official told Reuters: “He’s not going to stop it.”
Images on Capitol Hill filled television screens around the world, forever marking Trump’s presidency.
HELP FOR THE SUCCESSOR
Chao, secretary of labor and undersecretary of transportation to past Republican presidents, has led the department for four years. In an interview with Reuters on December 31, Chao said he planned to stay until January 20.
On Thursday, he said “we will help my announced successor, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, take responsibility for running this wonderful department.”
US President Donald Trump (2NDR) participates in a panel discussion with Undersecretary of Transportation Jeff Rosen (left), Secretary of Transportation Elaine Chao, and Walter Waidelich (right) at the Department of Transportation in Washington, United States , June 9, 2017. REUTERS / Jonathan Ernst / Archives
Chao made the announcement a day after McConnell condemned the violence and the effort by some Republican lawmakers to block certification of Biden’s victory. Trump has tried unsuccessfully to overturn the results with unsubstantiated claims of widespread voter fraud.
Mick Mulvaney, a former White House chief of staff, resigned as special envoy to Northern Ireland, telling CNBC: “I wouldn’t be surprised to see more of my friends resign over the next 24 to 48 hours.”
John Costello, Deputy Under Secretary of the Commerce Department, announced his departure in a scorching tweet, writing: “Yesterday’s events were an unprecedented attack on the very core of our democracy, incited by a sitting president.”
READ: Washington’s chaos leaves America’s ‘exceptional’ image in shambles
More outings are likely at the NSC, one of the officials said. It coordinates foreign policy and maintains contacts with other governments, so the loss of key personnel could raise questions about national security as the new administration takes over.
Pottinger’s boss, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, had no plans to resign, the first official said. But sources familiar with the matter said O’Brien considered resigning.
“A strong national security team remains in the State Department, the Defense Department, the Treasury, the intelligence community and the National Security Council,” the official said, adding that the team had been protecting itself against any threats. foreigner before Biden’s inauguration. .
The White House had no comment.
Shortly after Trump appeared to finally acknowledge that Biden would take office, the White House asked its more than 4,000 political appointees to submit letters of resignation by January 20.
A White House official called it part of the normal transition process, but such a request usually comes out weeks before a transfer of power and was apparently delayed by Trump’s refusal to admit defeat.
ISOLATED AND ANGRY
Trump has become increasingly isolated, relying on a small group of staunch loyalists and attacking those who dare to cross him.
READ: After Capitol siege, increasingly isolated Trump faces impeachment calls
An administration official said that “national security officials who are loyal to their oath to the Constitution will be on duty until inauguration day and then hand over power to the newly elected president.”
There has been no indication that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a close Trump ally, is going to resign. But he put the light of day between himself and Trump by condemning the mafia that invaded the Capitol as “criminals.”
Trump’s top cabinet secretaries – Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Acting Secretary of Defense Christopher Miller, and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen – were not expected to resign, but low-key cabinet members could still leave, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Former US diplomats said major exits were unlikely at the State Department, where employees have long borne Trump’s accusations that they are part of a “deep state” seeking to thwart his policies.
But a State Department adviser on Iran, Gabriel Noronha, was fired after tweeting that Trump was “in no condition to remain in office.”
First lady Melania Trump’s chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, also resigned Wednesday. Two sources told Reuters that White House social secretary Rickie Niceta also resigned, as did Sarah Matthews, the White House undersecretary of press.
Pottinger, a former Reuters and Wall Street Journal reporter who left journalism to join the US Marines after the September 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, had served in the White House since Trump took office.
Trump has pursued hardline policies toward China on issues ranging from trade to espionage to the coronavirus, with relations at their worst in decades.
