Judge rejects lawsuit challenging President Biden’s firing of Trump’s appointees to Naval Academy board

On Tuesday, a District Judge threw out a lawsuit which challenged President Biden’s removal of Trump appointed members to the Naval Academy Board.

The suit was brought to the court by Trump’s former Press Secretary Sean Spicer and Trump’s former Director of the Office of Management Russel Vought. Both men were among the 11 appointees by Trump to the government’s various military boards. Spicer, who was also a former navy reservist, was appointed to the board in 2019 and Vought was appointed the following year.

When addressing the reasons for their removal at the time, Jen Psaki said Biden’s objective was “nominees and people serving on these boards who are qualified to serve on them and who are aligned with [his] values,” Politico reports.

The Naval Academy Board was put in place by Congress to update the current President on the “state of morale and discipline” at the academy as well as its “curriculum, instruction, physical equipment, fiscal affairs, [and] academic methods.”

The lawsuit argued that President Biden had “no statutory authority” to remove the members from the board, which he did in September, according to Axios.

District Judge Dabney Friedrich ultimately ruled that federal law “did not insulate” Spicer or Voight from being removed by a future President. Friedrich said in his ruling that Congress stipulated “six persons designated by the President” would serve on the Board “for three years each” in staggered terms.

Spicer and Vought are currently being represented by America First Legal who have stated their intention to appeal the decision.