Democratic senator issues ultimatum to White House over Asian American representation
CBSN
Illinois Senator Tammy Duckworth issued a stern ultimatum to White House senior officials this morning: she won't vote to confirm any more White nominees until Asian Americans are named to more high level positions in the Biden administration.
"I'm voting no on all non-diversity nominees until they figure that out," Duckworth told CBS News. "We don't have anybody either (at a senior level) in the West Wing or in a cabinet-level position, and I don't think that's a good message to send to a significant portion of our nation's population — a population that's really hurting right now after a year of being under attack." Duckworth says she discussed her position with White House senior adviser Steve Ricchetti in a phone call Tuesday morning, and that he "told me that they were committed to figuring it out and that they would get back in touch with me."Ashley White received her earliest combat action badge from the United States Army soon after the first lieutenant arrived in Afghanistan. The silver military award, recognizing soldiers who've been personally engaged by an attacker during conflict, was considered an achievement in and of itself as well as an affirming rite of passage for the newly deployed. White had earned it for using her own body to shield a group of civilian women and children from gunfire that broke out in the midst of her third mission in Kandahar province. All of them survived. She never mentioned the badge to anyone in her battalion.