- January 7, 2021, 2:16 PM
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao this afternoon announced her resignation effective Monday, January 11, citing “a traumatic and entirely avoidable event [yesterday] as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed” in a letter to colleagues. Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky), has guided the Department of Transportation (DOT) with an experienced, and largely non-partisan, hand since she took office in February 2017.
While her remaining time was short at the DOT—Chao was staged to be replaced by Mayor Pete Buttigieg after the January 20 inauguration of President-elect Joe Biden—the resignation is nothing short of a protest over events that transpired yesterday on Capitol Hill. “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,” she said.