'Elections have consequences': Biden officials unrepentant after purging Trump cronies

On Wednesday, Axios reported that the White House is unswayed by anger from appointees of former President Donald Trump as they institute a purge of the earlier administration's staff.

"I got completely screwed," one Commerce Department appointee, Vanessa Ambrosini, said in February, noting that she lost her parental leave now that she no longer works in the administration. Meanwhile, the White House also terminated several members of the board of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts, as well as National Security Agency general counsel Michael Ellis, all of whom loudly protested their dismissal. And far-right talk radio host Michael Savage, asked to leave by Biden after a quickie appointment by Trump to the Presidio Trust, spouted off in a rage about Biden wanting to hand the government to "hippies."

White House spokesperson Mike Gwin put it bluntly when asked about the dismissals: "Elections have consequences. President Biden won with a commanding victory in November, and now he has the right and obligation to make sure the positions he fills reflect the priorities he campaigned on."

Such removals are not unusual, the report noted.

"When Trump took office, he axed a number of Obama appointees," wrote Sarah Mucha. "The Environmental Protection Agency dismissed half of its board of scientific advisers, for example. And Mick Mulvaney fired the entire Consumer Financial Protection Bureau's advisory board after its 25 members criticized his leadership."