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The Trump administration has fired several members of the US Holocaust Memorial Council appointed by Joe Biden, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of Kamala Harris.
Emhoff described the move as a political decision that turned “one of the worst atrocities in history into a wedge issue”.
He said he had been informed on Tuesday of his removal from the board, which oversees the US Holocaust Memorial Museum and other Holocaust commemorations.
“Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized,” Emhoff said in a statement. “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, who is Jewish and who led the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, said he would continue to “speak out, to educate, and to fight hate in all its forms – because silence is never an option”.
“No divisive political decision will ever shake my commitment to Holocaust remembrance and education or to combatting hate and antisemitism,” he added.
His statement comes a day before Harris is due to deliver her first major speech since leaving office in January. The former US vice-president, who lost to Donald Trump in the November presidential election, is expected to offer a sharp critique of the Trump administration, in San Francisco.
In addition, the Trump administration reportedly dismissed other Biden appointees to the council, including the former White House chief of staff Ron Klain; the former UN ambassador Susan Rice; the former deputy national security adviser Jon Finer; the former labor secretary Tom Perez; the former ambassador to Spain and Andorra Alan Solomont; and Mary Zients, the wife of the former White House chief of staff Jeff Zients, according to Jewish Insider.
Anthony Bernal, who served as a senior adviser to the former first lady Jill Biden, was also fired from the council, the New York Times reported.
Many of those reportedly fired on Tuesday had been appointed in January. Presidential appointments to the council typically serve for a five-year term.
Solomont, who was appointed to the council in 2023, told Jewish Insider that he learned of his dismissal through an email from a staff member of the White House presidential personnel office.
“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,” the email reads. “Thank you for your service.”
The email provided no explanation for the dismissal and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
A statement from the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum reads: “At this time of high antisemitism and Holocaust distortion and denial, the Museum is gratified that our visitation is robust and demand for Holocaust education is increasing.
“We look forward to continuing to advance our vitally important mission as we work with the Trump Administration,” it added.
