Trump dismisses Biden nominees to US Holocaust Memorial Council, including Doug Emhoff

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump has dismissed many of former President Joe Biden’s nominees to the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, including Doug Emhoff, the husband of former Vice President Kamala Harris.

Emhoff, who is Jewish and who led the Biden administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism, criticized Trump's action, saying, “Let me be clear: Holocaust remembrance and education should never be politicized.”

He added, “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.”

Others dismissed alongside Emhoff include former Biden chief of staff Ron Klain and former domestic policy adviser Susan Rice, who was the principal author of and the impetus behind the first-ever comprehensive National Strategy to Combat Antisemitism in 2023.

Anthony Bernal, a senior adviser to former first lady Jill Biden, confirmed he was also dismissed.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Since taking office in January, Trump has moved to fire many Biden appointees across government — including ostensibly apolitical roles. Biden, too, dismissed some Trump carryover appointees after he entered the White House in 2021, most notably 18 appointees named to U.S. military academy boards, but at a far smaller scale.