White House asks Trump military academy board appointees to resign
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[September 09, 2021]
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The White
House said on Wednesday it asked 18 Trump administration appointees to
resign from military academy boards, saying President Joe Biden would
require such officials to be "aligned with the values of this
administration."
The 18 - six each on the Board of Visitors to the Air Force Academy, the
Military Academy and the Naval Academy - were asked to resign, the White
House said.
If they did not resign their positions, they were to be terminated at 6
p.m., the White House said.
Those asked to step down include Kellyanne Conway, White House counselor
under Donald Trump, and Sean Spicer, a White House spokesperson under
the former Republican president.
"I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway and Sean
Spicer and others were qualified ... to serve on these boards," White
House spokesperson Jen Psaki said in response to a question during a
daily briefing.
"The president's qualification requirements are not your party
registration. They are whether you're qualified to serve and whether
you're aligned with the values of this administration."
"I'm not resigning, but you should," Conway wrote in a letter to Biden
posted on Twitter.
Spicer, who serves on the Board of Visitors to the U.S. Naval Academy,
said on his Newsmax show on Wednesday he would not step down. "I will
not be submitting my resignation, and I will be joining a lawsuit to
fight this," Spicer said.
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Former White House counselor Kellyanne Conway gestures during a
campaign event with U.S. first lady Melania Trump in Atglen,
Pennsylvania, U.S., October 27, 2020. REUTERS/Hannah Mckay/File
Photo
Trump's former budget chief Russ Vought also said he
would not quit. "No. It’s a three year term," he said on Twitter.
The boards provide advice and recommendations to the U.S. president
on matters including those related to morale, discipline,
curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs and
academic methods of the academies, according to a 2020 notice in the
Federal Register.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Jarrett Renshaw and Eric Beech;
Writing by Mohammad Zargham; Editing by Cynthia Osterman)
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