The Vice President, Trade Rep, and Surgeon General are all Asian-American. All three are high-level positions in the US government. Just because they don't have Secretary in their title doesn't mean they aren't important. This argument is just dumb, and I'm glad Duckworth and Hirono are backing down.
Well this is a little misleading since East/Southeast Asians and South Asians are not interchangeable. And USTR, the title aside, is a position with a very small budget compared to most Cabinet level agencies, so it's not just a matter of having Secretary in the title. Also it's a position that will be dominated by China and Tai is going to face extra pressure to be 'tough' because you-know-what her Chinese background, and so on. And any criticism she gets on that front will be tainted by potential racism. So it's not really the best position to be in.
I'm glad that Hirono and Duckworth at least are speaking up a bit. At the end of the day no one is going to remember this by next year.
