“Yesterday, our country experienced a traumatic and entirely avoidable event as supporters of the President stormed the Capitol building following a rally he addressed,” Chao wrote in a letter to Transportation Department staff, obtained by The 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.”
Her exit is a sharp rebuke of a president who has alienated even some of his closest supporters with his increasingly unhinged rhetoric. Chao has served as Transportation secretary since Trump’s inauguration. She served as Secretary of Labor for eight years under President George W. Bush.
In her letter to employees, Chao said she would resign effective Monday. She said her team would continue assisting President-elect Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary-designate, former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg, with the transition.