Overview
- Museum records provided to the New York Post indicate that Bernie Sanders has not attended a single council meeting since his 2007 appointment.
- About a dozen council members sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer asking that Sanders be replaced with an active Senate appointee.
- Signatories argue that sustained nonattendance harms governance and point to Sanders’ public statements accusing Israel of genocide as misaligned with the museum’s mission.
- Attendance issues extend to other Senate appointees, with Sen. Jacky Rosen present at two of the last 10 meetings and Sen. Tim Scott absent from the last 13 despite appearances in 2017 and 2019.
- Sanders’ and Senate leaders’ offices did not comment, and the council—comprised of 55 presidential appointees and 10 congressional appointees—meets twice annually with one Senate-designated seat currently vacant.