Sen. Tammy Duckworth of Illinois has vowed to oppose President Joe Biden’s Cabinet picks if they’re “non-diversity nominees.”
Fox News reporter Chad Pergram quotes Duckworth as saying the following: “I am a ‘no’ vote on the floor on all non-diversity nominees. You know, I will vote for racial minorities and I will vote for LGBTQ. But anybody else I’m not voting for.”
Politico reports that she is primarily upset over Biden not nominating any Asians to be among his Cabinet secretaries. She inquired about the issue on a Monday evening call between Senate Democrats and Biden aides. Jen O’Malley Dillon, the White House deputy of chief of staff, allegedly responded that “we’re not going to put any more Asian Americans in the Cabinet because you have Kamala,” which Duckworth said was “incredibly insulting.”
Duckworth herself is Asian. She was born in Bangkok, Thailand, to an American father and a Thai mother. Vice President Kamala Harris is often considered both black and Asian, with the media oftentimes emphasizing one over the other depending on the narrative they want to advance. Harris was born to a Jamaican father and an Indian mother.
This represents no more than racial discrimination on the part of Duckworth, and a disturbing first trend in the United States Senate where cabinet nominees are rejected or confirmed on the basis of their ancestry. Sadly, Duckworth’s prejudice is likely to catch on with her Democrat peers, who may soon reserve cabinet seats for members of political identity groups.
