Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

U.S. transport chief, foreign policy advisers among resignations after Capitol violence

Published 01/06/2021, 10:22 PM
Updated 01/07/2021, 03:46 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019 (GES 2019)

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019 (GES 2019)

By David Shepardson, Matt Spetalnick and Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) -U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao announced her resignation on Thursday, the first Cabinet member to join a growing list of President Donald Trump's staff leaving in protest over the storming of the U.S. Capitol by his supporters.

Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said the mob attack "has deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside." She said her resignation will take effect on Monday, nine days before Trump leaves office.

Deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger, a leading figure in the development of Trump's China policy, quit abruptly on Wednesday, said a senior administration official.

He was followed by Ryan Tully, senior director for European and Russian affairs at the National Security Council, said a second senior official and a person familiar with the matter.

Republican Trump's pledge on Thursday that there would be an "orderly transition" to the presidency of Democrat Joe Biden on Jan. 20 was partly intended to head off further resignations, but the second official told Reuters: "It's not going to stop it."

With two weeks left of Trump's presidency, many aides were already heading for the door, but the sudden departures suggested revulsion among some over his encouragement of mobs of supporters who stormed the Capitol on Wednesday in an ultimately futile bid to prevent formal certification of Biden's election victory.

The images filled television screens in the United States and around the world, forever marking Trump's presidency.

HELP FOR SUCCESSOR

Chao, a labor secretary and deputy transportation secretary under previous Republican presidents, has led the department for four years. In an interview with Reuters on Dec. 31, Chao had said she planned to remain on the job through Jan. 20.

On Thursday, she was at pains to say that "we will help my announced successor, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with taking on the responsibility of running this wonderful department."

Among those who were spurred to quit was Mick Mulvaney, a former White House chief of staff who resigned his post as a special envoy to Northern Ireland.

"I wouldn't be surprised to see more of my friends resign over the course of the next 24 to 48 hours," he said on CNBC.

Further departures are especially likely at the NSC, one of the officials said. It coordinates U.S. foreign policy among federal agencies and maintains close contacts with foreign governments, so the loss of key staff could raise questions about national security as the new administration takes over.

Pottinger’s boss, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, has no plans to quit, the first official said. But sources familiar with the matter said O'Brien had considered quitting.

“A strong national security team remains in place at the State Department, the Department of Defense, Treasury, the intelligence community and the National Security Council", the official said, adding that the team had been guarding against any foreign threats prior to Biden's inauguration.

The White House had no immediate comment.

Confirming Pottinger's departure, O'Brien tweeted: "His work lead to a great awakening in our country and around the world to the danger posed by the Chinese Communist Party."

ISOLATED AND ANGRY

Trump has increasingly isolated himself in the White House, relying on a small group of diehard loyalists and lashing out at those who dare to cross him, including Vice President Mike Pence, said four sources familiar with the matter.

An administration official said that "national security officials who are loyal to their oath to the constitution will be standing watch until Inauguration Day and will then turn over power to the duly elected new president."

There has been no indication that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, a close Trump ally, plans to resign. But he put daylight between himself and Trump by condemning the mob that overran the Capitol as "criminals".

Trump's top cabinet secretaries – Pompeo, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, Acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller and Acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen - are not expected to quit, but other lower-profile cabinet members could still leave their posts, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Former U.S. diplomats said it was unlikely there would be major departures at the State Department, where staffers have long endured Trump's accusations that they are part of a "deep state" seeking to frustrate his policies.

"It would be very strange for people to self-immolate just when they see a ship on the horizon," a former State Department official said, on condition of anonymity.

First lady Melania Trump's chief of staff, Stephanie Grisham, also resigned on Wednesday. Two sources told Reuters that White House social secretary Rickie Niceta also quit, as did Sarah Matthews, a deputy White House press secretary.

Pottinger, a former Reuters and Wall Street Journal reporter who left journalism to join the U.S. Marines after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States in 2001, had served in the White House since the beginning of Trump's presidency in 2017.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Global Entrepreneurship Summit 2019 (GES 2019)

His departure comes amid high tension with Beijing. Trump's administration has pursued hardline policies towards China on issues ranging from trade to espionage and the coronavirus, and relations have sunk to their worst level in decades.

Latest comments

NOBODY WANTS TO BE CHINESE..THEY WANT TO BE AMERICAN
Dp Dp.. You again.. Must be intoxicated.. How sad
china's diet creates diseases..we rescue their dogs before they're lunch..China will destroy Africa, pillage all naturL resources..China needed to wear masks to breath before disease air quality..NOBODY WANTS TO BE CHINESE
Dp Dp.. You must intoxicated..you still in the American dream.. Go get out of that dream..please don't lie to yourself that America is so Saint.. Go walk in your street.. See how homeless people sleeping in the street without food.. Goodness
keppmtelling your self that..so you can sleep at night ..hahah
China has nothing to be embarrassed about..concentration camps, people disappear, corruption, let's see how China handles revolts when Africa gets tired of their ****
still better than China in every way
Shole country.
Rats are abandoning the sinking ship....
Trump's people are and will resign in droves now that Congress has certified electoral votes for Biden. All of Trump cohorts will desert him in the coming days.
Top Chinese advisor.. My foot.. Top self destruct advisor maybe
Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.