This Friday, several members of the Defense Business Board were fired by the Trump administration, in what POLITICO calls the latest effort to clean out the Pentagon in the final weeks of President Trump's term.
An email sent to board members from White House liaison to the Department of Defense, Joshua Whitehouse, read, “if you are receiving this e-mail, your membership on the Defense Business Board has expired or is coming to an end.”
Speaking to POLITICO, board chairman Michael Bayer said the letter was out of the ordinary.
"A number of board members have been terminated with a form letter. In my experience, I was very surprised that the White House would, at the eleventh hour, adjust an advisory board that for 19 years has had a record of nonpartisan support with the department," he said. "This kind of a move really will weigh heavily on people on the future and their willingness to serve on these outside advisory boards if they're going to be subjected to political loyalty test. It's unprecedented. I'm just saddened."
In late November, Whitehouse sent a directive that removed 11 high-profile advisors from the top federal advisory committee to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Read the full report over at POLITICO.