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Former Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway said Wednesday she was rejecting a request from the Biden administration that she resign from the United States Air Force Academy’s board — or face termination.
“Three former directors of presidential personnel inform me that this request is a break from presidential norms,” Conway wrote in a Wednesday letter addressed to President Joe Biden, which she shared on social media. She called the request “petty and political, if not personal,” saying it would result in service academies becoming “politicized and polarized.”
“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,” Conway wrote, citing recent crises including the withdrawal from Afghanistan. She closed the letter in saying it was a “privilege” to serve on the board under former President Donald Trump, “whose actions resulted in the deaths of terrorists” including Islamic State leader Abu Bakr al Baghdadi and Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps commander
“I’m not resigning, but you should,” she added.
The Biden administration this week asked 11 officials that Trump appointed to military service academy advisory boards to resign. Others on the list include former White House press secretary Sean Spicer, who sits on the Naval Academy’s board, and former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster, who sits on West Point’s board. The officials were set to be terminated as of 6 p.m. Wednesday if they declined to resign.
“The president’s objective is what any president’s objective is,” White House press secretary Jen Psaki said at a daily briefing Wednesday afternoon. “To ensure you have nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with your values. And so yes, that was an ask that was made.”