Trump fires Biden appointees, including Doug Emhoff, from the Holocaust Museum board

The Trump administration has fired at least some of former President Joe Biden’s appointees to the board that oversees the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, including former second gentleman Doug Emhoff.

Emhoff, who is married to former Vice President Kamala Harris, led the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism from his history-making vantage point as the first Jewish spouse of a U.S. president or vice president.

He was one of 12 people Biden appointed in January to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the board of trustees of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C. Presidential appointees typically serve a five-year term, according to the museum’s website.

On Tuesday, however, several Biden appointees were notified of their abrupt termination from the board. The New York Times, which first reported the firings, said notices came via email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office. Tuesday was the 80th anniversary of the liberation of Nazi Germany’s Dachau concentration camp.

Emhoff confirmed and criticized his termination in a statement on social media, in which he wrote that “Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized.”

“To turn one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue is dangerous — and it dishonors the memory of six million Jews murdered by Nazis that this museum was created to preserve,” wrote Emhoff, whose great-grandparents fled persecution from modern-day Poland in the early 19th century.

The White House did not respond to questions about why — and how many — board members were terminated, but said Trump plans to appoint new members.

In a statement emailed to NPR, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Trump “looks forward to appointing new individuals who will not only continue to honor the memory of those who perished in the Holocaust, but who are also steadfast supporters of the State of Israel.”

The United States Holocaust Memorial Council, which meets twice a year, consists of 55 members appointed by the president, as well as five members each from the Senate and House of Representatives and three ex-officio members from the Departments of Education, Interior and State.

It is not clear how many board members were terminated on Tuesday. The New York Times and Associated Press report that other officials dismissed include Ron Klain, Biden’s first chief of staff; Anthony Bernal, a senior advisor to former first lady Jill Biden; and Susan Rice, Biden’s former domestic policy adviser and an architect of his national strategy for combating antisemitism.

Former Rep. David Cicilline, D-Rhode Island, whom Biden appointed to the board in 2024, confirmed to NPR that his position was also terminated. Cicilline — who left Congress in 2023 to run the Rhode Island Foundation — called firings “deeply disappointing” in an emailed statement on Wednesday.

“The Museum’s work has always been nonpartisan and should remain so,” he said. “It is meant to challenge us all to think critically and clearly about our role in society, to confront antisemitism, and all other forms of hate.”

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, which was established by Congress in 1980 and opened in 1993, is the country’s official memorial to the Holocaust, dedicated to the documentation, study and interpretation of the genocide of European Jews during World War II.

It describes itself as an “independent establishment of the United States government operating as a public-private partnership that receives some federal funding to support operations of the Museum building.”

When asked about the terminations, Andrew Hollinger, the museum’s communication director, told NPR over email that the museum “is gratified that our visitation is robust and demand for Holocaust education is increasing,” especially given the rise in antisemitism and Holocaust denial or distortion.

“We look forward to continuing to advance our vitally important mission as we work with the Trump Administration,” Hollinger wrote.

But some current and former board members, as well as prominent Jewish community leaders, say Trump’s terminations will threaten the institution’s ability to carry out that mission.

“Donald Trump’s action to prematurely remove members of the board before the end of their terms is an attempt to politicize an institution dedicated to remembering one of the worst atrocities in our history and hurts our efforts to educate future generations,” Nevada Sen. Jacky Rosen, a Democrat who was appointed to the board in 2021, said in a statement shared with NPR.

Andrew Weinstein, who was appointed to the board by former President Barack Obama and served during the first Trump administration, said on social media that “removing Biden appointees is petty and vindictive and distracts from this important work.”

Jonathan Greenblatt, CEO of the Anti-Defamation League, asked for a “fulsome explanation for this decision and even a reconsideration.”

“While it’s true that the White House has the privilege to appoint and dismiss members to such bodies, the latter prerogative should be used with caution and only in the most egregious situations,” he wrote.

The Trump administration has targeted several prominent cultural institutions and their boards during his first few months in office.

In February, he purged the Biden-appointed members of the Kennedy Center board and installed himself as its chair. In March, he issued a sweeping executive order aimed to eliminate “woke ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, singling out the American Art Museum, the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and the forthcoming American Women’s History Museum as examples.

On Monday, Trump attempted to fire three of the five board members of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which quickly sued him in response, arguing he does not have the authority to do so.

Disclosure: NPR receives about 1% of its funds directly from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as explained here.