White House tells Dr Oz and Herschel Walker to resign from fitness council | Biden administration

The White House has requested two Trump-appointed members of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition to resign from their posts or be fired.

On Wednesday, the White House despatched letters to Dr Mehmet Oz and former soccer star Herschel Walker – two Republican Senate candidates in Georgia and Pennsylvania, respectively – asking them to submit their resignations or face termination.

“On behalf of President Biden, I’m writing to request your resignation as a Member of the President’s Council on Sports, Fitness & Nutrition,” wrote Gautam Raghavan, an assistant to Joe Biden. “Please submit your resignation to me by the shut of enterprise immediately. Should we not obtain your resignation, your place with the council can be terminated efficient 6.00pm tonight.”

Oz and Walker have been appointed to the council in 2018 by then president Donald Trump. In December 2020, earlier than leaving workplace, Trump reappointed them for an extra two-year time period.

Under the Biden administration’s insurance policies, federal candidates usually are not allowed to serve on presidential boards, a White House official told CNN.

Oz criticized the White House’s name for his resignation, tweeting a picture of the letter with the caption, “It’s unhappy that he would politicize such an essential situation like well being. The physician he ought to ask to resign is Dr. [Anthony] Fauci, for a mess of apparent causes.”

“Clearly Joe Biden can’t be round anybody who doesn’t utterly fall in keeping with his fearmongering authoritarian one-size-fits-all Covid dealing with. I’m pleased with my service and won’t resign,” Oz mentioned in a video message on Twitter.

Members who’re a part of the council are thought-about particular authorities workers and in line with the Hatch Act “might not be candidates in partisan elections” whereas performing official authorities duties, CNN reported.

Walker has but to remark publicly on the resignation request.

On Wednesday, the White House introduced the appointment of the WNBA participant Elena Delle Donne and the chef and philanthropist José Andrés as co-chairs of the council.