The Biden administration made an unprecedented move this week in requesting the resignations of 18 members, all Trump appointees, of boards of the U.S. military academies.
This move is inexplicable and wrong.
First, the boards are nonpartisan. They help shape the direction of the academies that train America’s finest to serve at home and abroad. The military does not care if service members are Democrats or Republicans, rather if they have the mental and physical capacity to protect the homeland. That is the same principle which, until now, had in large part been applied to the selection of those on the academy boards.
Second, one could argue that certain Trump-appointed members, such as former White House Counselor Kellyanne Conway, should not have been appointed to the boards of the Air Force Academy, the Naval Academy, and West Point. After all, Conway has no connection to or experience with the military. However, others such as Jack Keane and H.R. McMaster, who honorably served for decades in the military, would seem perfectly suited to their positions. They have been greatly disrespected by the Biden administration.
Third, the appointments to the boards are not supposed to be at the pleasure of the president. They are, by law, three-year terms. Hopefully, the courts will rule against President Joe Biden.
Finally, these ousters further demonstrate that Biden’s call for “unity” was nothing but a sham.
Jackson Richman is a journalist in Washington, D.C. Follow him @jacksonrichman.
