The White House is sending a message to Trump appointees after complaining about being fired by the Biden administration.
White House spokesperson Mike Gwin told Axios, “Elections have consequences.”
He added, “President Biden won with a commanding victory in November, and now he has the right and obligation to make sure the positions he fills reflect the priorities he campaigned on.”
Four Trump-appointed members of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts were asked on Monday by the Biden administration to resign by 6 p.m. or face termination.
“Given that all of the threatened commissioners support classical architecture, the White House’s action clearly represents an attack on that type of design, even though it is approved by most Americans,” commission chairman Justin Shubow said.
Shubow told the administration, “I respectfully decline your request to resign. I request an explanation of the legal basis and grounds of your extraordinary request and accompanying threat of termination.”
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki commented on the matter, saying on Tuesday, “Certainly any president coming in has the right to nominate their own people to serve on a commission or serve in any positions in their own administration.”
Another Trump appointee said in a previous interview she got “completely screwed” after losing her parental leave.
Vanessa Ambrosini continued, “There were no caveats in that language saying anything about if the administration turns, you get nothing and of course, that happened and so I got nothing.”
A Biden official explained, “We understand that a few Trump appointees, including a handful currently on parental leave, submitted last minute requests to remain on government payroll.”
They added, “Because these requests were received so close to Inauguration Day … there was no way to implement an exception to the rule in a way that is fair to all outgoing appointees, including many who resigned as expected without making requests for extraordinary benefits.”