The Biden administration has told all ex-Trump officials to resign from their appointed positions to advisory boards of the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy and West Point Academy, including Russ Vought, Trump’s former Director of the Office of Management and Budget who on Wednesday defiantly responded: No.
“No. It’s a three year term. @WhiteHouse” Vought tweeted early Wednesday along with a copy of a letter from the White House requesting his resignation.
“On behalf of President Biden, I am writing to request your resignation as a Member of the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy,” reads the letter from Catherine M. Russell, assistant to the president and director of the White House Office of Presidential Personnel. “Please submit your resignation to me by the close of the business today. Should we not receive your resignation, your position with the Board will be terminated effectively 6:00 pm tonight. Thank you.”
Roaring Patriot TV anchor Sean Spicer, also a board member on the board of the Naval Academy, received the same letter.
“Instead of focusing on the stranded Americans left in #Afghanistan, President Biden is trying to terminate the Trump appointees to the Naval Academy, West Point and Air Force Academy,” Spicer tweeted. “My response tonight on #SpicerandCo at 6pm on @newsmax.”
The board, comprised of eight members of Congress and six presidential appointees, meets several times a year to provide advice on issues of “morale and discipline, curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, and academic methods” for the school.
Meaghan Mobbs, a West Point grad and former Trump adviser on military family issues, said she would not resign.
“It is tragic that this great institution is now being subjected to and hijacked by partisan action that serve no purpose and no greater good,” Mobbs, a member of the West Point advisory board, wrote in response.
“Make no mistake, the move to terminate duly appointed presidential appointees sets a dangerous precedent for future administrations and undermines our institutions.”
In total, CNN reports that 11 appointees have been asked to resign, including: former senior counselor to the president Kellyanne Conway, former national security adviser H.R. McMaster, retired Col. Douglas Macgregor, former White House liaison to the DOJ Heidi Stirrup, Michael Wynne, retired Gen. John Keane, David Urban and John Coale.
