Democrats confront White House over lack of AAPI Cabinet representation
23 March 2021
Two Democratic senators of Asian American and Pacific Islander heritage confronted a senior White House official Monday night over the absence of AAPI representation in President Biden's Cabinet, three Senate aides familiar with the call tell Axios.
Behind the scenes: Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), backed up by Sen. Mazie Hirono (D-Hawaii), leveled the complaint to deputy chief of staff Jen O’Malley Dillion during a Zoom call between the White House and the Senate Democratic Caucus.
- Hours earlier, Biden finalized the secretaries of the 15 executive departments when the Senate confirmed former Boston Mayor Marty Walsh as Labor secretary.
- Duckworth noted that the Cabinet lacks a single AAPI member, according to three Senate Democratic aides briefed on the call. Hirono backed her up.
Between the lines: The discussion follows last week's mass shooting in Georgia and national calls to address AAPI discrimination, racism and targeting.
- But from the start of his administration Biden has faced calls to include more Asian Americans at top levels of his administration, including the Cabinet.
- Vice President Kamala Harris is the first woman, African American and Asian American to hold that position. Biden's U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai is also Asian American. Neither positions are considered Cabinet secretaries.
O’Malley Dillion brought these points up during the call in response to Duckworth’s concerns, and spoke about the administration’s commitment to fighting hate against the Asian American community, two sources briefed on the call said.
Go deeper: Asian American lawmakers urge Biden to name AAPI Cabinet secretary
Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times
Section2Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.
Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.
The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.
- The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.
What the transcripts say:
- Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
- The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
- Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."
Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.