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A State Department official resigned on Thursday over President Donald Trump's response to racial tensions sweeping the country over the killings of Black people by police, The Washington Post reported.

Mary Elizabeth Taylor, the assistant secretary of state for legislative affairs, said in her resignation letter that Trump's actions "cut sharply against my core values and convictions."听At 30, Taylor was the youngest person to hold her position, and she was also the first Black woman in the job, according to the Post.

"The President's comments and actions surrounding racial injustice and Black Americans cut sharply against my core values and convictions," Ms. Taylor said in her resignation letter to Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, which was obtained by the Post. "I must follow the dictates of my conscience and resign as Assistant Secretary of State for Legislative Affairs."

The Washington Post :听

[Ms.] Taylor鈥檚 decision to leave the administration amid the racial tensions flaring nationwide appears to be the first high-profile resignation made in protest of the president鈥檚 actions that has been made public. One member of the Defense Science Board, James N. Miller,听submitted his resignation to Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper shortly after [Mr.] Trump鈥檚 controversial photo op in Lafayette Square, but he was a former Obama administration official who had served on the committee that advises the Pentagon on science issues since 2014.

In contrast, [Ms.] Taylor was viewed as a loyal member of the administration and is a lifelong member of the Republican Party. The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

[Supreme Court Justice Neil]听Gorsuch administered [Ms.] Taylor鈥檚 oath of office at her swearing-in ceremony in December 2018 at the State Department. In her position as assistant secretary of state, [Ms.] Taylor served as [Mr.] Pompeo鈥檚 chief liaison to Capitol Hill.

Ms. Taylor's resignation follows weeks of turmoil sweeping the United States following the killing of George Floyd by a white police officer in Minneapolis. Protesters demanding justice for Mr. Floyd and other slain Black people, along with reforms to address police brutality, have taken to the streets, and the president has struggled to meet the moment. He has referred to protesters as "thugs," and his administration forcefully pushed aside peaceful protesters near the White House so he could go to a nearby church and pose holding a Bible.

The Washington Post听听

The White House has come under heavy criticism after federal authorities forcefully swept away peaceful demonstrators protesting [Mr.] Floyd鈥檚 death at听Lafayette Square听across the street from the White House. This cleared a path for [Mr.] Trump to walk several hundred yards to the iconic St. John鈥檚 Church, where he held up a Bible and posed for photographs. The White House has denied the protesters were removed so the president could hold a photo op.

On June 3, [Ms.] Taylor sent a message to her team of roughly 60 State Department employees, acknowledging that in the aftermath of [Mr.] Floyd鈥檚 death that her heart 鈥渋s broken, in a way from which I鈥檝e had to heal it countless times.鈥�

The State Department declined to comment in response to a question from The Associated Press.

"We do not comment on personnel matters," the State Department said in an emailed response to a request for information about Ms.听Taylor's resignation. There was no immediate explanation for why the State Department officials, including Mr. Pompeo and other top aides, had chosen to comment extensively on the decision to fire the department's Inspector General Steve Linick in May.

In her role in the Trump administration, Ms. Taylor helped guide more than 400 presidential appointments through the Senate, including those of Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch and CIA director Gina Haspel, the Post reported.

This story was reported by The Associated Press. Material from The Washington Post was used in this report.听

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