TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwanese-American Elaine Chao (趙小蘭) resigned from her post as Secretary of Transportation on Thursday (Jan. 7) in response to the Capitol riot spurred on by President Donald Trump.
Incited by incendiary comments Trump made in a speech on the pending electoral vote count on Wednesday (Jan. 6), an emboldened rabble of rioters descended on the Capitol, breached security, and occupied the building. The mob inflicted damage to the historic building, and five have died thus far.
In response, a number of Trump's Cabinet members have begun resigning in protest at his role in the incident. On Thursday, Chao joined the ranks of Cabinet members stepping down out of disgust at the president's behavior.
On Thursday afternoon, Chao posted a tweet in which she deplored the "traumatic and entirely avoidable event" that had occurred in the Capitol building. She expressed certainty that many of her followers were as "deeply troubled" as her about the previous day's events "in a way that I simply cannot set aside."
Nevertheless, she emphasized that she was "tremendously proud" of her achievements while at the helm of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). She announced that her resignation will take effect on Jan. 11, nine days before her superior, Trump, steps down from power.
At the top of her tweet, she proclaimed that it has been the "honor of a lifetime" to work for the DOT. In a gesture of bipartisanship, Chao emphasized that she will assist her successor, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, in taking over the reins of the "wonderful department."
That same day, Education Secretary Betsy DeVos also announced her resignation over the storming of the Capitol building.
Chao, 67, who was born in Taipei, Taiwan, became the first Asian-American in U.S. history to serve in a president's Cabinet when she was tapped for labor secretary under the George W. Bush administration from 2001 to 2009. She has been married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky since 1993.
Chao's parents fled to Taiwan from China in 1949 after the communists defeated the nationalists in the Chinese Civil War. She lived with her family in Taipei until 1961, when she emigrated to the U.S. at the age of 8.
It has been the honor of a lifetime to serve the U.S. Department of Transportation. pic.twitter.com/rFxPsBoh6t
— Sec. Elaine Chao (@SecElaineChao) January 7, 2021
