The firing was first reported by The New York Times, which said that in addition to Emhoff, other high-profile board members appointed by President Joe Biden had also been terminated, including former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain and Susan Rice, who was Biden's domestic policy chief. Presidential appointments are supposed to be for five years, according to the museum's website. A White House official confirmed the firings. Emhoff said he would keep speaking out. “No divisive political decision will ever shake my commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education or to combatting hate and antisemitism. I will continue to speak out, to educate, and to fight hate in all its forms — because silence is never an option,” he said.

Former second gentleman Doug Emhoff on Tuesday was kicked off of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum board, which includes over 50 president-appointee members. “Today, I was informed of my removal from the United States Holocaust Memorial Council. Let me be clear: 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 said in a statement to The Hill.

Emhoff — who is Jewish and served on former President Joe Biden’s White House antisemitism task force after a startling rise in the scourge after the Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel — was appointed to the board in January and was slated to serve a five-year term. Ron Klain, Biden’s former chief of staff; Tom Perez, a former Biden White House adviser; Anthony Bernal, an ex-adviser to former first lady Jill Biden; and Susan Rice, national security adviser to former President Barack Obama, were also recently ousted from the Holocaust museum board, a White House official confirmed. The New York Times first reported on the firings. “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,” read an email from the White House Presidential Personnel Office, informing the board members of their removal, according to the outlet.