WASHINGTON (NewsNation Now) — President Donald Trump’s former acting White House chief of staff, Mick Mulvaney joined a growing list of Trump administration officials who are leaving following the violent riot at the Capitol on Wednesday.
Mulvaney resigned his post as special envoy to Northern Ireland Thursday, saying “I can’t do it. I can’t stay.”
The riot occurred after Trump addressed a massive rally in Washington fueled by the president’s repeated allegations that he lost the November election because of election fraud, which is not substantiated. A mob breached the Capitol building just as lawmakers were working to certify Electoral College votes in the election, sealing President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao was the first cabinet official to join a growing list of administration officials leaving the Trump administration after the Capitol was breached. Chao tweeted Thursday that serving was “an honor of a lifetime” but cited what occurred had “deeply troubled me in a way that I simply cannot set aside.”
Chao, the wife of Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, said her resignation would take effect Jan. 11 and would assist her successor Pete Buttigieg in the transition.
Mulvaney said he called Secretary of State Mike Pompeo Wednesday night to tell him that he was resigning. He served as acting White House chief of staff from January 2019 until March 2020. Before that, he was director of the Office of Management and Budget.
White House deputy national security adviser Matt Pottinger resigned Wednesday. Pottinger’s boss, national security adviser Robert O’Brien, has no plans to quit, a senior administration official told Reuters. Pottinger was a leading figure in the development of Trump’s China policy.
The White House had no immediate comment. O’Brien had asked Pottinger to stay on past election day to facilitate the transition to Biden’s new team, the official said.
“Pottinger completed those tasks,” the person said.
Two top aides to first lady Melania Trump also resigned on Wednesday. Stephanie Grisham resigned as chief of staff to the first lady.
“It has been an honor to serve the country in the White House. I am very proud to have been a part of Mrs. Trump’s mission to help children everywhere, and proud of the many accomplishments of this administration,” Grisham said in a statement.
BEIJING, CHINA – MAY 14: Matt Pottinger, Special Assistant to U.S. President Donald Trump and National Security Council (NSC) Senior Director for East Asia, center, and Kim Yong Jae, North Korean minister of external economic relations, right, arrive for the opening ceremony of the Belt and Road Forum at the China National Convention Center (CNCC) in Beijing, Sunday, May 14, 2017. (Photo by Mark Schiefelbein – Pool/Getty Images) 
WASHINGTON, DC – OCTOBER 21: White House Press Secretary and Communications Director Stephanie Grisham listens during a cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House October 21, 2019 in Washington, DC. President Trump held a cabinet meeting to discuss his administration’s agenda and made extensive remarks about impeachment and the situation on the Syrian/Turkish border. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images) 
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD – FEBRUARY 28: Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney has a conversation with Stephen Moore , Distinguished Visiting Fellow for Project for Economic Growth at The Heritage Foundation, on stage at the Conservative Political Action Conference 2020 (CPAC) hosted by the American Conservative Union on February 28, 2020 in National Harbor, MD. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
The White House social secretary, Rickie Niceta, also resigned, as did a deputy White House press secretary, Sarah Matthews.
Shortly after the Biden’s Electoral College certification, President Trump issued a statement promising an “orderly transition on January 20th.”
