Early in his term, President Biden made history: He fired, en masse, his predecessor’s appointees to presidential boards and commissions before their terms ended.
On Monday, when President Trump is sworn in for his second term, he should not hesitate to follow the precedent that Biden established.
Like every president before him, Trump appointed thousands of people to boards and commissions during his first term.
These generally nonpartisan groups advise the president on our military academies, the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, public television and radio, national cemeteries and more.
I was fortunate to be one of those people appointed after leaving the White House as Trump’s press secretary: He named me to serve on the Commission on White House Fellows and the Board of Visitors to the US Naval Academy.
When Biden was inaugurated, all members of the Commission on White House Fellows were immediately asked to submit their resignations, and we did.
That was not unusual for this particular commission; after all, it vets and approves people to work directly within the administration.
But nine months later, I was suddenly asked via email to resign from the US Naval Academy’s Board of Visitors — and to do so that very day.
“Should we not receive your resignation, your position with the Board will be terminated effective 6:00 p.m. tonight. Thank you,” the email read.
I did not see this coming.
It was an unprecedented move; never before in history had a president dismissed a member of the board of a service academy without cause prior to the end of their term.
Trump had not done so, nor had President Barack Obama.
And this action was not specific to me: The Biden team fired every person Trump had named to a service academy board: the Naval Academy, West Point and the Air Force Academy.
Unlike other Presidential Advisory Boards and commissions, service academy boards are statutory, enacted in law by Congress to provide oversight responsibilities.
Each board member is sworn in to the position for a set term, most for three years.
Many of us kicked off the various service academy boards thought Biden’s move was an attempt to silence criticism of the new administration’s woke policies of diversity, equity and inclusion that it was then pushing on our military.
When then-White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki was asked about the removals, she responded by questioning my credentials to serve on the board — failing to mention my more than 20 years of US Navy service and my degree from the Naval War College.
She also didn’t note that Biden also dismissed Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster, a highly decorated officer and distinguished academic, from the West Point board in the same mass firing, along with other highly qualified members.
In order to make the Biden administration answer for these unprecedented dismissals, America First Legal, led former Trump aide Stephen Miller, decided to take action.
I signed on to the case they filed, which became known as Spicer v. Biden.
The lawsuit was filed right before my term would have expired — I had no expectation of winning a return to the board.
The goal was to get the Biden administration to argue affirmatively in court that it had the absolute authority to remove and replace any appointee.
As our lead attorney Gene Hamilton stated, “Even if the Biden administration prevails in its arguments, President Biden has perhaps unwittingly created a precedent that will be followed by all future administrations.”
Gene was right: The Biden arguments, which a court affirmed, will now benefit President Trump.
Our case was dismissed by the district court — and while our appeal was pending, the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit ruled, in the parallel case of Severino v. Biden et al., that a presidential appointee in a similar position to mine is removable at will by the president.
In the end, the DC Circuit clarified the extent of the president’s removal authority for such positions, which will be helpful for all future administrations to understand.
If President Trump dismisses Biden board and commission appointees on Jan. 20, he will be on firm legal ground — and will simply be following the precedent established, and fought for, by Joe Biden.
Sean Spicer served as the 30th White House press secretary and now hosts the Sean Spicer Show podcast.
