参议员谭美·达克沃斯在周一晚上与参议院民主党人的一次私下通话中告诉白宫官员缺乏代表性乔·拜登总统内阁中的亚裔美国人和太平洋岛民是“不可接受的”，她星期二说，她将反对所有的未来非多样化的拜登提名直到问题得到纠正——这可能是一个在意见不一的参议院的问题。

“AAPI在内阁中没有代表。内阁中没有一个AAPI。这是不可接受的，”杜克沃斯，迪尔。他对记者说，这是一位民主党人对政府罕见的批评。

夏威夷民主党参议员马齐·广野和她的亚裔美国同事一起参加了1999年的竞选表达关切并说她计划支持杜克沃斯反对非多元化提名。

亚历克斯·王/盖蒂图像，文件

2020年10月22日，国会大厦前的新闻发布会上，参议员Mazie Hirono发言。

“我和AAPIs一样，也有塔米的担忧和失望，”Hirono说。“我和她一样，这意味着我们希望白宫承诺在内阁和白宫高级职位中有更多的多样性代表。在那之前，(我)可以和她一起投反对票。”

参议员的封锁可能会给政府带来严重后果，因为司法提名人和数十名低层工作人员尚未得到参议院的确认。

例如，尽管被提名为五角大楼政策负责人的科林·达尔预计将在周三得到参议院军事委员会的确认——在广野和杜克沃斯的支持下——但除非他们对白宫的回应感到满意，否则他们的支持预计将结束。

广野告诉美国广播公司新闻，她也对白宫办公厅副主任珍·欧玛利·狄龙和高级顾问迈克·多尼伦周一晚上向民主党人展示的图表和民调数据表示关切。这位参议员说，一些图表，如显示对拜登态度的图表，不包括AAPIs，而另一组数据显示了对刚刚通过的COVID救援计划的支持。Hirono说，她希望看到与包括AAPIs在内的“重要群体”的“一致性”。

这一切都发生在这个国家努力应对仇恨犯罪激增对亚洲人的歧视，上周在亚特兰大发生的枪击事件更是加剧了这种歧视，导致6名亚裔美国女性死亡。

两位参议员说，他们希望看到政府出台一项计划，在白宫以及内阁职位和低层职位空缺时，增加各种各样的多样性，而不仅仅是AAPI。

两位参议员都表示，周一晚上，他们对欧玛利·狄龙针对他们的担忧给出的答案感到困惑。

转述欧玛利·狄龙的回应，杜克沃斯说，“嗯，我们认为贸易代表和(管理和预算办公室)主任是内阁级别的，因为他们围坐在桌子旁边——你有尼拉(坦登)，你有凯瑟琳·泰。”

参议院刚刚确认了台湾裔美国人泰，但美国贸易代表是内阁级别，不是内阁成员。尼拉·坦登(Neera Tanden)的父母来自印度，在有争议的推特和团结的共和党反对派之后，他的提名被取消。坦登被提名的OMB职位也只是内阁级别。

“被告知‘你有贺锦丽，我们为她感到骄傲，你不需要任何人’是一种侮辱，”杜克沃斯继续说道。

奇普·索莫德维拉/盖蒂影像公司

2020年11月17日，谭美·达克沃斯在国会大厦的新闻发布会上对记者说。

哈里斯作为美国第一位黑人和亚裔美国副总统破土而出。

当被问及杜克沃斯和广野威胁要阻止提名直到有更多的AAPI任命时，拜登周二晚上说，“我们有历史上最多样化的内阁。我们有很多亚裔美国人在内阁和副内阁任职。”

正在考虑内阁职位的杜克沃斯说，她已经工作了六个月，提出了“非常合格的”AAPI提名人选，但没有一个人“接到过电话”

“在这一点上，他们可以...给我打电话，告诉我提议是什么，”她说。“但在那之前，我对所有非多元化提名者都投反对票。你知道，我会投票给少数民族，我会投票给同性恋者、双性恋者和变性者，但我不会投票给其他任何人。”

艾琳·斯科特/路透社

文件照片:2021年3月6日，日落时分，美国华盛顿的白宫。

拜登政府确实有一个历史上多样化的内阁——包括人数最多的拉丁裔和第一个担任高层职位的土著美国人，但由15名内阁官员组成的小组是共和党和民主党政府20年来第一个不包括亚裔美国太平洋岛民的小组。

一名民主党参议员——一名领导层成员——表示希望僵局将很快结束。

“我认为，就最高内阁职位而言，没有代表权是客观事实。我认为白宫想解决这个问题也是事实，”夏威夷参议员布赖恩·沙茨说。“所以，我认为我们将能够在未来的基础上达成一项决议，你知道，我已经和玛茜和塔米谈过了，我们也和白宫谈过了，我认为这里有善意。所以我认为这将是一个好的开始，但是每个参议员都有权利投票决定他们认为合适的方式，这是对参议员权力的恰当运用。”

爱可信首先报道了周一晚上杜克沃斯-广野与欧玛利·狄龙的争吵。

2 key Dems demand more diversity in Biden Cabinet, will oppose non-diverse nominees

Sen. Tammy Duckworth told White House officials in a private call Monday night with Senate Democrats that thelack of representationof Asian American Pacific Islanders in President Joe Biden's Cabinet is "unacceptable" and said Tuesday that she will oppose all futurenon-diverse Biden nomineesuntil the problem is rectified -- something that could be a problem in the evenly divided Senate.

"There's no AAPI representation in the Cabinet. There's not a single AAPI in a Cabinet position. That's not acceptable," Duckworth, D-Ill., told reporters Tuesday, offering a rare criticism of the administration by a Democrat.

Sen. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, joined her fellow Asian American colleague invoicing concernsand said that she planned to support Duckworth in her objection to non-diverse nominees.

"I do share Tammy's concern and disappointment along with AAPIs," Hirono said. "I'm joining her in that, which means that we would like to have a commitment from the White House that there be more diversity representation in the Cabinet and in senior White House positions. And until that happens, (I) will be able to join her in voting no."

The senators' blockade could have serious consequences for the administration as judicial nominees and scores of lower-level staffers have yet to be confirmed by the Senate.

For example, though the nominee to be head of policy at the Pentagon, Colin Dahl, is expected to be confirmed by the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday -- with the support of both Hirono and Duckworth -- that's where their support is expected to end unless they are satisfied with a White House response.

Hirono told ABC News that she also expressed concern about charts and polling data shown to Democrats Monday night by White House deputy chief of staff Jen O'Malley Dillon and senior adviser Mike Donilon. The senator said some charts, like one showing attitudes toward Biden, did not include AAPIs, while another set of data -- showing support for the just-passed COVID relief plan -- did. Hirono said she wanted to see "consistency" with "significant groups" like AAPIs included.

This all comes as the country grapples with aspike in hate crimesagainst Asians, punctuated by the shootings in Atlanta last week that left six Asian American women dead.

The two senators said they want to see a plan from the administration for increasing diversity of all kinds -- not just AAPI -- in jobs at the White House and when Cabinet positions and lower-level posts open up.

Both senators said they were put off Monday night by the answers they said O'Malley Dillon gave in response to their concerns.

Paraphrasing O'Malley Dillon's response, Duckworth said, "Well, we consider a Trade Representative and the (Office of Management and Budget) director to be Cabinet level, because they sit around the table -- and you have Neera (Tanden), and you have Katherine Tai."

The Senate just confirmed Tai, who is Taiwanese American, but the U.S. trade representative is Cabinet level and not a member of the Cabinet. And the nomination of Neera Tanden, whose parents were from India, was pulled in the wake of controversial tweets and united Republican opposition. The OMB position for which Tanden was nominated is also just Cabinet level.

"To be told that 'well you have Kamala Harris, we're very proud of her you don't need anybody else' is insulting," Duckworth continued.

Harris broke ground as the first Black and Asian American vice president of the United States.

When asked about threats from Duckworth and Hirono to block nominees until there are more AAPI appointments, Biden said Tuesday night, "We have the most diverse Cabinet in history. We have a lot of Asian Americans that are in the Cabinet and in sub-Cabinet levels."

Duckworth, who was under consideration for a Cabinet post, said she had worked for six months to put forward "well-qualified" AAPI nominees, but none "even got a phone call."

"At this point, they can ... call me and tell me what the proposal is," she said. "But until then, I am a no vote on the floor on all non-diversity nominees. You know, I will vote for racial minorities and I will vote for LGBTQ, but anybody else, I'm not voting for."

The Biden administration does have a historically diverse Cabinet -- including the highest number of Latinos and the first Native American to hold a top post, but the group of 15 Cabinet officers is the first in 20 years of Republican and Democratic administrations not to include an Asian American Pacific Islander.

One Democratic senator -- a member of leadership -- voiced hope that the standoff would soon end.

"I think it is objectively true that in terms of the top Cabinet positions that the representation is not there. I think it's also true that the White House wants to fix this," said Sen. Brian Schatz, D-Hawaii. "So, I think we're going to be able to come to a resolution on a going forward basis, and you know, I've talked to both Mazie and Tammy about it, and we've talked to the White House, and I think there's goodwill here. And so I think this is going to land in a good place, but every senator has a right to vote how they see fit and this is an appropriate use of a senator's power."

Axiosfirst reported the Monday night Duckworth-Hirono dust-up with O'Malley Dillon.