The Biden administration said Wednesday it will terminate two Trump appointees from their seats on a presidential advisory board if they don’t resign.
Former President Donald Trump appointed Dr. Mehmet Oz and Herschel Walker to the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition in 2018, and renewed their two-year terms in 2020 right before President Joe Biden got into office.
Oz is running as a Republican for a Senate seat in Pennsylvania, and Walker is a Republican Senate candidate in Georgia. (RELATED: Dr. Oz Declares In Race For Pennsylvania Senate Seat)
The Biden administration doesn’t allow members of boards and commissions to be running for federal office, a White House official said, according to NBC News.
Oz said that he will not resign from the presidential advisory board.
“I received this letter on behalf of POTUS requesting I resign from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. It’s sad that he would politicize such an important issue like health. The doctor he should ask to resign is Dr. Fauci, for a multitude of obvious reasons,” Oz tweeted, showing what appeared to be the White House letter asking for his resignation.
I received this letter on behalf of @POTUS requesting I resign from the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition. It’s sad that he would politicize such an important issue like health. The doctor he should ask to resign is Dr. Fauci, for a multitude of obvious reasons. pic.twitter.com/fJaVLKVWOC
— Dr. Mehmet Oz (@DrOz) March 24, 2022
The letter in the video requested Oz to resign by 6 p.m. Wednesday.
“With that said, I am beyond grateful to President Trump for appointing me to this very prestigious & important position. I am also grateful to my colleagues on the committee & proud of everything we were able to achieve. However, I have no intention of resigning,” he continued.
Walker also said he will not resign.
“President Biden is so scared about us beating Raphael Warnock that he has asked me to resign from my unpaid position on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition. I’m not a quitter so you are going to have to fire me,” Walker said.
President Biden is so scared about us beating Raphael Warnock that he has asked me to resign from my unpaid position on the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness, and Nutrition.
I’m not a quitter so you are going to have to fire me.
— Herschel Walker (@HerschelWalker) March 24, 2022
The Biden administration asked 11 former Trump officials to resign from their military service academy advisory boards in September, including former Senior Counselor to the President Kellyanne Conway, former White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer and former National Security Adviser H.R. McMaster.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in September the Biden administration wanted to “have nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with [the people’s] values.”