Chip Somodevilla/Getty ImagesBy ADIA ROBINSON, ABC News
(WASHINGTON) — After reaching a “trigger point” with the White House over Asian American and Pacific Islander representation in the Cabinet, Illinois Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth is “very pleased” with the response to her concerns, she said on ABC News’ “Powerhouse Politics” podcast Wednesday.
She told ABC News Chief Washington Correspondent Jonathan Karl and Political Director Rick Klein that the “trigger point” that caused her to threaten to block Biden’s nominees was a White House representative bringing up Vice President Kamala Harris to convince her the Cabinet was diverse enough.
“I said ‘whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute, I love Kamala she’s my sister,'” she said. “‘She’s brilliant, and she and I came into the Senate together. And she is as Asian as I am, we’re both half Asian. But you would never say to the Black Caucus, you have Kamala, there’s no need to nominate any more members of the Black community to key Cabinet positions. I mean, you wouldn’t even say, hey, you’ve got a white male president, there’s no need to have any more white males in the Cabinet — right? So why would you say that to Asians?'”