[UPDATE 12:08 a.m.:  “Sens. Tammy Duckworth and Mazie Hirono on Tuesday backed off their threat to vote against any of President Joe Biden’s nominees who aren’t minorities, after going public with their anger that the Cabinet lacks Asian Americans, and Duckworth earlier saying she felt insulted by the White House’s attempts to brush off her concerns.” —CNN]

Democratic Senators Tammy Duckworth of Illinois and Mazie Hirono of Hawaii have vowed to vote against any Biden Administration appointee who aren’t minorities until the administration vows to name more Asian-Americans to positions, CNN reports.

Duckworth said it was “incredibly insulting” that an administration official cited Vice President Kamala Harris, who has Asian heritage, as an example of the diversity within the administration.

“To be told that you have Kamala Harris, we are very proud of her, you don’t need anybody else, is insulting,” Duckworth told CNN.  “That’s not something you would say to the Black caucus — that ‘You have Kamala; we’re not going to be putting any African Americans in the Cabinet’ — why would you say that to AAPIs?”

Such an action would cause a significant shift in power in the Senate, where Democrats hold the majority thanks to Vice President Harris holding the tie-breaking vote in an evenly divided chamber.

“It means that we would like to have a commitment from the White House that there’ll be more diversity representation in the Cabinet, and in senior White House positions,” Hirono said.  “And until that happens, we will be able to join her in voting no on non-diversity nominees. I think that is a reasonable position.”