President biden
Joe BidenSenate holds the biggest vote in history as Democrats struggle to save the Capitol-nominated ex-Trump relief bill complains he won’t be able to sleep in prison Biden helps the Senate broker negotiate unemployment benefits MORE on Friday dismissed Sharon Gustafson, who was appointed by the former President Trump
Donald TrumpTrump announces new installment of DeSantis endorsements, Pence tied in 2024 Republican vote Lawmakers demand changes after National Guard troops on Capitol Hill fell ill from contaminated food MORE as general counsel for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
The White House told Gustafson that she would be fired as of 5 pm on Friday, after refusing to voluntarily resign.
In a letter to the White House released by Ethics & Public Policy Center, a conservative think tank, Gustafson said he “respectfully” declined the White House’s request to resign and that he wanted to fulfill the remainder of his four-year term, which was set for expire in 2023.
Gautam Raghavan, the deputy director of the White House Presidential Personnel Office, responded by email that she was being fired on Friday night.
Neither the White House nor the EEOC responded immediately to The Hill’s requests for comment.
Republicans quickly came out fighting the shooting. Andrea Lucas, a Republican-appointed commissioner for the EEOC, described the resignation as a violation of Biden’s calls for unity.
“I think that the action taken today by the White House against our independent agency is deeply worrying, a break with the rules established long ago by the presidents of both parties, an injection of partisanship where it was previously absent and … overwhelming evidence of what ‘unity’ actually means for this president and his administration, ”she tweeted.
… revealing evidence of what “unity” really means for this president and his administration. In his inaugural speech, the president said: “The right to disagree peacefully, within the protection bars of our Republic, is perhaps the greatest strength of our nation.”
– Andrea R. Lucas (@andrealucasEEOC) March 5, 2021
“This is a standard. President Biden calls for an end to the ‘party war’, just to turn around and demand that Senate-confirmed officials resign so that he can make room for his leftist friends, “said the deputy. Virginia Foxx
Virginia Ann FoxxChamber of Commerce labels Biden’s removal from the NLRB general council. The GOP scrutiny intensifies with the dismissal of the top NLRB attorney, Biden fires the Trump-era attorney MORE (RN.C.), the main Republican on the Chamber’s Education and Work Committee.
“President Biden must take note of the general council Gustafson, who kept his commitment and refused to give in to party pressure. This unprecedented dismissal of an honorable public official, which occurred just hours after she was asked to resign, is unjustified and it must be terminated immediately, ”said Foxx.
Gustafson was first appointed to his role in 2018. She faced scrutiny at the time due to comments on protections for LGBT workers.
Gustafson wrote in his letter to the White House that she was unaware of the former EEOC general counsel who had been sacked at the start of a new government, although Biden worked quickly to install his own nominees in the federal government.