Douglas Emhoff, the Jewish former second gentleman, was fired from the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Tuesday along with a number of other board members appointed by former President Joe Biden.
Emhoff, Kamala Harrs’ husband, was the first Jewish spouse of a vice president, one of the most prominent Jewish figures in the Biden administration and a leading national voice in fighting antisemitism. He criticized the firings, which were reported in The New York Times Tuesday, as a slight to the Holocaust’s victims.
“Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council,” Emhoff said in a statement to the Times. “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.”
Emhoff was appointed to the council in January by former President Joe Biden, shortly before the end of his term. Typically, a council seat has a tenure of five years. There are 55 board members appointed by the president, 10 from the House of Representatives and the Senate, and three more from the president’s cabinet.
Emhoff took on the role after serving as the face of the Biden White House’s efforts to combat antisemitism. He launched the initiative that culminated in Biden’s national strategy to counter antisemitism and took a high-profile working trip to Jewish and Holocaust sites in Poland and Germany.
Jewish critics of the Trump administration castigated the decision to dismiss Emhoff. Amy Spitalnick, CEO of the Jewish Council for Public Affairs, said the move was of a piece with other efforts that politicize the fight against antisemitism.
“This administration appears to be doing everything in its power to turn antisemitism into a political wedge — and it makes Jews, and everyone, less safe,” Spitalnick wrote in reaction to the news in a post on Bluesky.
Halie Soifer, CEO of the Jewish Democratic Council of America, called the decision “unprecedented and reprehensible” in a statement. She added, “Membership on the Museum board is a solemn non-partisan obligation, which should not be viewed through a political lens.”
Emhoff was dismissed alongside Ron Klain, Biden’s Jewish White House chief of staff; Tom Perez, the former labor secretary; Susan Rice, Biden’s top domestic policy adviser who also took part in its efforts to combat antisemitism; and Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to Jill Biden.
The officials were told of their immediate termination from the council in an email Tuesday morning, days after Yom Hashoah, or Holocaust Remembrance Day, according to the New York Times.
“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the United States Holocaust Memorial Council is terminated, effective immediately,” wrote Mary Sprowls, who works in the White House Presidential Personnel Office, in an email obtained by the Times. “Thank you for your service.”
Days before the dismissal, in commemoration of Yom Hashoah, Emhoff posted photos from his trip to Auschwitz-Birkenau on social media.
“On Yom HaShoah, we remember the six million Jews murdered in the Holocaust and honor the survivors who carry forward their stories,” he wrote. “I will never forget my visit to Auschwitz-Birkenau—that indelible memory fuels my continued commitment to fight antisemitism and hate in all forms.”
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