Sen. Tammy Duckworth says she'll vote no on Biden nominees until White House taps Asian candidates


Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) is frustrated with the lack of Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in the Biden administration, and on Tuesday she said it'll cost them her vote on "all non-diversity nominees" until they reverse course and select Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for key executive branch positions.
President Biden has made a point of trying to create a diverse Cabinet, but Duckworth has criticized its makeup, noting that none of the 15 secretaries are of Asian or Pacific Island descent. Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai are both Asian American and hold Cabinet-level positions, but they are not considered Cabinet secretaries, Axios notes.
Duckworth, who is of Asian descent, said the lack of representation is "not acceptable" and she'll withhold her vote for Biden's judicial and sub-Cabinet nominees for now, but "hopefully they figure it out." Duckworth did say she will support nominees backed by the Congressional Black Caucus and Congressional Hispanic Caucus, however.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), who is also of Asian descent, said she's considering following Duckworth's lead. Read more at Axios.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.
-
Jared and Ivanka's Albanian island
Under The Radar The deal to develop Sazan has been met with widespread opposition
-
Storm warning
Feature The U.S. is headed for an intense hurricane season. Will a shrunken FEMA and NOAA be able to respond?
-
U.S. v. Skrmetti: Did the trans rights movement overreach?
Feature The Supreme Court upholds a Tennessee law that bans transgender care for minors, dealing a blow to trans rights
-
Trump sues LA over immigration policies
Speed Read He is suing over the city's sanctuary law, claiming it prevents local law enforcement from cooperating with federal immigration authorities
-
Obama, Bush and Bono eulogize USAID on final day
Speed Read The US Agency for International Development, a humanitarian organization, has been gutted by the Trump administration
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
Senate advances GOP bill that costs more, cuts more
Speed Read The bill would make giant cuts to Medicaid and food stamps, leaving 11.8 million fewer people with health coverage
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump