U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao becomes first Trump cabinet member to resign in protest
The dominoes are starting to fall.
Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao resigned her post Thursday, making her the first member of President Trump’s cabinet to quit in protest of his incitement of the Capitol Hill riot.
The long-serving Chao blamed Trump for the “traumatic and entirely avoidable” chaos that the unleashed with his fuel on the fire speech to angry supporters.
“It deeply troubled me in a way I simply cannot set aside,” Chao said in a statement.
Chao, who is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, becomes the highest ranking member of the government to quit after widespread bipartisan outrage over Trump’s outrageous behavior continues to spread.
Her resignation is effective on Monday, meaning she could still potentially participate in deliberations to remove Trump under the terms of the 25th Amendment if Vice President Mike Pence were to start such an action before then.
In a dig at Trump, Chao said she plans to continue working closely with incoming Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. He was nominated by President-elect Joe Biden, the legitimacy of whose victory Trump refuses to accept.
Several other very senior Trump administration officials are reportedly considering resigning in protest of the shameful egging on of violent protesters and his defense of them even after they stormed the Capitol.
CNN reported that Republican congressional leaders had called top officials including White House counsel Pat Cipollone and National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien to plead with them to not resign out of fear that Trump would go even further off the rails if they leave.
Chao was one of the original members of Trump’s cabinet and one of a small handful of non-white men who have served in it.
She stood loyally by Trump even during his periodic outbursts of rage that sometimes targeted her powerful husband.
