The Political Insider

On Tuesday, Democratic Sens. Mazie Hirono and Tammy Duckworth dropped their objections to vote against any white, ‘non-minority’ nominees put forth by the Biden administration for cabinet positions.

The two had previously threatened to vote against “non-diversity” nominees for Biden’s cabinet.

According to The Hill, this shift came about after “the White House announced the appointment of a senior-level Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) liaison.”

RELATED: Kayleigh McEnany Demands Biden Be Asked ‘Hard Questions’ About Border During His First Press Conference This Week

Hirono And Duckworth Threatened To Vote Against White Nominees

Prior to the Biden administration offering to appoint a senior liaison to the Asian community, Hirono and Duckworth had both warned they might “hold out votes to confirm any non-diversity Cabinet nominees.”

Earlier Tuesday, Duckworth said that she would vote “no” to confirm Biden’s pick for Pentagon top policy chief, Colin Kahl, until Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders were chosen as “nominees to vacant positions.”

Duckworth stated, “I will vote for racial minorities and LGBTQ, but anybody else I’m not voting for.”

While unclear, Duckworth would presumably be fine with a white nominee if they were transgender or homosexual, but not cisgender or straight.

Duckworth had pressed White House staff about Asian representation.

When the reply came that the administration said, “We’re very proud of Vice President Harris,” implying that Harris was representative of the Asian community, the Democratic senator said she found it “insulting.”

Democrat Senators Threatened To Vote Based On Race

Sen. Hirono agreed with Duckworth regarding Biden’s “non-diverse nominees.”

Hirono said, “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 joining her in voting on non-diversity nominees.”

Duckworth added that Asian lawmakers were told that Asians would be appointed specifically to head both the Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) and White House budget director.

Reported CNN’s Manu Raj on Twitter, “But after Neera Tanden’s nomination collapsed, she said it appears the White House is going in a different direction.”

RELATED: Kamala Harris’ Niece Takes Heat For Blaming, Without Evidence, ‘White Men’ For Boulder Shooting

Neera Tanden, who is of Indian descent, withdrew her nomination for Director of the Office of Management and Budget earlier this month.

Biden said he would find a position in his administration for her.