Cabinet members Betsy DeVos, Elaine Chao, other Trump officials resign over Capitol violence

Several Trump administration officials have announced that they are resigning after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, temporarily disrupting Congress as it was certifying Joe Biden's Electoral College victory.

The officials included those in prominent positions in the White House, and staff members who have been working in the Trump administration since the beginning of the president's term in 2017. Some of the resignations came hours after President Donald Trump openly encouraged his supporters to go to the Capitol to protest what he has falsely claimed was a stolen election. The moves are being made with less than two weeks remaining in Trump's term.

Here is a list of the administration officials who have resigned.

Betsy DeVos

DeVos, the education secretary, submitted a letter of resignation to Trump on Thursday, saying she would step down Friday.

In the letter, DeVos called the mob that disrupted Congress as it was certifying the election results Wednesday "unconscionable for our country."

"There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me," she wrote.

With her letter, DeVos became the second Cabinet member to announce plans to resign after violent protesters overwhelmed the police and stormed through the Capitol.

A billionaire Republican donor, DeVos was confirmed as education secretary in February 2017 with a tiebreaking vote in the Senate from Vice President Mike Pence.

Elaine Chao

Chao, the transportation secretary, announced her resignation on Twitter on Thursday, becoming the first Cabinet member to do so. The unrest at the Capitol, she wrote, "deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside." Chao, whose resignation is effective Monday, is married to Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., the majority leader.

Mick Mulvaney

Mulvaney, Trump's former acting chief of staff, resigned as special envoy to Northern Ireland on Wednesday night, saying he "can't stay" after watching the president encourage the mob that overtook the Capitol complex.

In an interview with CNBC on Thursday morning, Mulvaney said he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo on Wednesday night and told him: "I can't do it. I can't stay."

Mulvaney praised administration officials who defended Vice President Mike Pence, who oversaw the tallying of the votes that certified Biden's victory despite pressure from Trump. Mulvaney said he anticipated that there would be more resignations.

"Those who choose to stay, and I have talked with some of them, are choosing to stay because they're worried the president might put someone worse in," he said.

On Wednesday afternoon, Mulvaney, who was named acting chief of staff in 2018, wrote on Twitter: "The President's tweet is not enough. He can stop this now and needs to do exactly that. Tell these folks to go home."

Matthew Pottinger

Pottinger has been Trump's deputy national security adviser since 2019. He was formerly the administration's Asia director on the National Security Council and was known for his on-the-ground experience in China, where he advised Trump during his meeting with President Xi Jinping in 2017. Pottinger has resigned, a person familiar with the events said Thursday.

John Costello

Costello, one of the country's most senior cybersecurity officials, resigned Wednesday, telling associates that the violence on Capitol Hill was his "breaking point" and, he hoped, "a wake-up call."

Tyler Goodspeed

Goodspeed, the acting chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, resigned Thursday, citing Trump's incitement of the mob that stormed the Capitol.

"The events of yesterday made my position no longer tenable," he said in an interview, after informing the White House chief of staff, Mark Meadows, of his decision.

Stephanie Grisham

Grisham, the former White House press secretary who served as chief of staff to Melania Trump, the first lady, submitted her resignation Wednesday after the violence at the Capitol. She had worked for the Trumps since the 2016 campaign and was one of their longest-serving aides.

Rickie Niceta

Melania Trump chose Niceta, a former Washington event planner who helped coordinate Donald Trump's inaugural celebrations, as her social secretary in 2017. Niceta has said she was resigning, according to an administration official familiar with her plans who was not authorized to speak publicly.

Sarah Matthews

Matthews, a deputy White House press secretary, submitted her resignation Wednesday, saying in a statement that she was "deeply disturbed by what I saw today."