Politics- US Transportation Secretary
Elaine Chao announced Thursday she was resigning after pro-Trump riots at the Capitol. - Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the latest in a number of Trump administration officials who resigned after Wednesday's violence.
- She is the first Cabinet secretary to leave her post since Wednesday.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced Thursday that she was resigning from her post, effective on January 11.
"Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed," she said in a statement. "As I'm sure is the case with many of you, it has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
"Today, I am announcing my resignation as U.S. Secretary of Transportation," the statement said. "We will help my announced successor Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with taking on the responsibility of running this wonderful department."
Chao is the first Cabinet member to leave her post following Wednesday's riots at the US Capitol orchestrated by supporters of President Donald Trump while Congress met to certify the 2020 presidential election. She is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and the latest in a series of Trump administration resignations since Wednesday.
Chao has served as Trump's transportation secretary since January 2017. She previously served as labor secretary in George W. Bush's administration.
McConnell condemned the violence on the Senate floor on Wednesday evening after Congress reconvened to complete the certification of President-elect Joe Biden's 2020 victory.
He also released a statement on Thursday calling the scene "a massive failure of institutions, protocols, and planning that are supposed to protect the first branch of our federal government."
Top Trump administration officials, including Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe, and national security advisor Robert O'Brien, have received several calls from former national security officials urging them not to resign, CNN reported on Thursday. The former officials said the departures could pose risks to national security.
Officials who have resigned since Wednesday's chaos include the former White House press secretary and first lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham; deputy White House press secretary Sarah Matthews; deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger; White House social secretary Rickie Niceta; the US's special envoy to Northern Ireland and former White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney; and other officials from the Commerce Department and National Security Council.
Chad Wolf, the acting secretary of Homeland Security, also condemned the violence, saying in a statement, "We now see some supporters of the President using violence as a means to achieve political ends. These violent actions are unconscionable, and I implore the President and all elected officials to strongly condemn the violence that took place yesterday."
Shortly after his statement was released, the White House announced that Trump had withdrawn Wolf's nomination to be the permanent Department of Homeland Security secretary.
Wednesday's scene at the US Capitol resembled something out of a dystopian novel as violent throngs of Trump supporters breached barricades, broke into the Capitol building, ransacked offices, stole and vandalized properties, and made it as far as the House and Senate floors. The Capitol went on lockdown, and Congress members, their staff, and reporters were evacuated for hours before Congress reconvened later Wednesday to certify Biden's win.