Thanks for the response and I apologize for the missing detail. I should have phrased it properly. The two courses they assigned me are the courses which I already took (as substitution as I worked hard on my retired advisor’s projects), and has nothing to do with the courses that I got C’s in the first semester. They asked me to re-take the courses that were listed as taken before my PhD advisor retired. This is the reason I requested for reconsideration so that I can do my oral defense without taking these two courses.
Completing my PhD was in my top priority while dealing with Financial and Visa issues, along with the teaching job which I enjoy. This is reason I submitted several requests to waive the newly assigned courses.