The White House on Thursday avoided commenting on a resignation and a protest letter from within the Biden administration and campaign teams, saying only that it’s an “emotional time” and that “people have the right to voice their opinion.”

An Education Department staffer and Palestinian sympathizer quit this week in protest over President Joe Biden’s response to the Israel-Hamas war. That came amid 17 staffers from Biden’s 2024 presidential campaign team anonymously urging the president to, among a litany of things, pressure Israel into an “immediate, permanent cease-fire.”

“What we’ll say is that people have the right to voice their opinion,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said during Thursday’s White House briefing.”We understand that these are times where … it’s an emotional time. And we understand that as it relates to, I think, the Department of Education, … I know they put out a statement, so I would refer you to the Department of Education.”