- The president fired a nominated Trump, Sharon Gustafson, on Friday after she refused to resign.
- Gustafson was a senior member of the EEOC, a federal agency charged with investigating workplace issues.
- Her dismissal has sparked outrage from other Trump appointments and Republican lawmakers.
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President Joe Biden on Friday fired a lawyer appointed by Trump in the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency that investigates sex discrimination and retaliation in the workplace.
Sharon Gustafson, who was the EEOC’s chief executive under the Trump administration, refused to resign, according to an e-mail published online by the Ethics and Policy Center, a conservative think tank.
Gustafson said in a letter dated March 5 that she was “respectful” of Biden’s request that she resign from her role. She wanted to serve until 2023, which would mean the end of her four-year term.
“When I was nominated, I was asked if I would commit to fulfilling my four-year term, and I said yes,” she wrote in the letter, addressed to Biden. “Unless prevented, I intend to abide by the commitment.”
In response to her letter not wanting to resign, Gautum Raghavan, the deputy director of the office of presidential staff, said in an email to Gustafson that she would be terminated at the end of the day on Friday.
Her termination sparked outrage from Andrea Lucas, another Trump-appointed EEOC.
“I find the action taken by the White House against our independent agency today very disturbing, a disruption of the established norms respected by both presidents, an injection of bias where it was absent, and a proof of what.” unity actually means for this president and his administration, “Lucas tweeted.
When a new president is inaugurated, it is common for them to appoint their own people to all positions in the White House. Usually, staff members appointed by the previous administration leave their posts voluntarily. The chief of staff of the new administration is asking for about 4,000 appointments to hand over resignation letters.
However, Gustafson in her letter to the president pointed out that she was not aware of similar requests made by others regarding the EEOC.
“As far as I know, no previous general council has been dismissed because he was appointed by the wrong political party,” Gustafson wrote in her letter.
A Republican lawmaker also condemned Biden’s move, calling her dismissal an “unprecedented dismissal of a respected public official.”
“This is a pattern. President Biden is calling for an end to ‘partisan warfare’, only to turn around and demand that officials confirmed by the Senate resign so that he can make room for his leftist friends,” he said. Rep. Virginia Foxx said statement.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.