“Is it appropriate for the news to say he was fired when he was not, he was reassigned?” McCarthy told reporters during a press conference on Tuesday. “I think that is appropriate.”

Vindman was escorted out of the White House on Friday and removed from his temporary position on the National Security Council, just days after the Senate voted to acquit Trump on impeachment charges.

Vindman had offered damaging testimony against Trump in the House impeachment hearings, and his removal from the NSC was seen as payback. He was moved back to the Pentagon through Friday's decision.