Overview

• President Donald Trump dismissed multiple Biden-appointed members of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, including Doug Emhoff, Ron Klain, Susan Rice, and others, effective immediately.
• Doug Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of a vice president, criticized the decision, calling it a politicization of Holocaust remembrance and a dishonor to the memory of six million Jews murdered during the Holocaust.
• The White House stated that new appointees will honor Holocaust victims and be steadfast supporters of Israel, but did not provide specific reasons for the dismissals.
• The firings follow a pattern of Trump removing Biden-era appointees from cultural and advisory boards, including earlier purges at the Kennedy Center and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
• The U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council, created by Congress in 1980, oversees the Holocaust Memorial Museum and traditionally appoints members for five-year terms.