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Biden Gives Trumpy Military Board Appointees the Boot—but They Won’t Budge

Some officials booted from the cushy board positions included Sean Spicer, Kellyanne Conway, and H.R. McMaster.

As President Joe Biden approaches a year in office, he’s working to evict the stubborn holdovers of the guy he beat. White House officials have begun pushing out Trump appointees of military advisory boards, CNN reports, urging 11 people to resign or be fired. Some of those names include former press secretary Sean Spicer, former White House adviser Kellyanne Conway, and former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who were appointed to the Naval Academy, Air Force Academy, and West Point boards, respectively. One Naval Academy board member, former Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought, said on Twitter he would not be resigning. “It’s a three year term,” he wrote.

The military advisory boards convene multiple times a year and provide independent advice and recommendations to the president. Meaghan Mobbs, who was appointed to the West Point board, said she disagreed with the Biden administration’s decision. “Frankly, I find this whole act unconscionable and not [at] all in the spirit by which this Administration promised to govern,” Mobbs said in a statement. “President Biden ran on a supposed platform of unity but his actions speak directly to the contrary. Apparently, unity is only for those who conform.”

Conway was also characteristically unmoved by the resignation request. “Your decision is disappointing but understandable given the need to distract from a news cycle that has you mired in multiple self-inflicted crises and plummeting poll numbers,” she wrote on Twitter, before offering her own offer: “I'm not resigning, but you should.”