Former White House officials Kellyanne Conway and Sean Spicer fired back at the Biden administration on Wednesday over its request that they resign from military academy boards.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters earlier in the day that Biden asked various appointees of former President Trump to step down from the boards.
Asked about the risk of politicizing these boards, Psaki said, “I will let others evaluate whether they think Kellyanne Conway, Sean Spicer and others were qualified, or not political, to serve on this board.”
“But the president’s qualification requirements are not your party registration. They are whether you are qualified to serve and whether you’re aligned with the values of this administration,” she added.
Spicer, who was asked to resign from the board of the U.S. Naval Academy, said on his Newsmax show that he would not be resigning.
“I will not be submitting my resignation, and I will be joining a lawsuit to fight this,” Spicer said.
Spicer, who was Trump’s first White House press secretary, said Psaki “crossed the line” with her comments earlier in the day.
“Press secretaries never comment on the previous press secretary or the current one, and I’ve respected that. I haven’t responded to Jen or reacted to her, but she crossed a line today. She chose to bring me into this,” Spicer said.
He went into his history in the military, which he said was “one of the greatest decisions” of his life. He noted that he’s a graduate of the U.S. Naval War College and served under five different presidents.
“I won’t ever question how anyone chooses to serve this country. I won’t question how you choose to do that, Jen. But don’t you dare minimize or question my service to this nation. You got it?” Spicer said.
Conway, a former White House counselor who was appointed to the board of the Air Force Academy, said in a letter shared to Twitter that the move by Biden was “petty and political, if not personal.”
“I’m not resigning, but you should,” Conway said.
Earlier in the day, former Office of Management and Budget director Russell Vought revealed that he was asked to resign from the Naval Academy board.
In response to the request, Vought said on Twitter, “No. It’s a three year term.”