• There are reports of turmoil at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia after the sudden resignation of its director Jeffrey Rosen. 
• One board member alleges that Trump wanted a regime change ahead of the America 250 celebrations.
• The president has pressured other national institutions, such as the Smithsonian and the NEA, to conform to his vision for U.S. culture. 

After more than 12 years at the reins, Jeffrey Rosen is out as director of the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia, sparking accusations that President Donald Trump is once again seeking to control a U.S. cultural institution.

Rosen, age 61, is a renowned legal scholar, and had played a key role in the museum’s preparations for America 250, the national celebration of the semiquincentennial of the founding of the U.S. Leaving on the eve of such a major event is certainly a strange move—and a reflection of institutional drama behind the scenes.

Vice president Vince Stango, who has been with the institution since 1999, is now interim president and CEO. But reportedly, he had previously been handling much of the day-to-day management of the museum, while Rosen focused on scholarship and the intellectual output of the institution. (As of press time, the museum had not responded to requests for comment.)

The great hall at the National Constitution Center, featuring all of the state flags. Photo courtesy of the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia.

Departing and incoming board chairs Doug DeVos, of the DeVos family of noted Republican donors, and Mike George, hired an external employment lawyer to conduct a review of workplace conditions and organization leadership. In December, they announced the findings at a virtual board meeting: there was a leadership crisis, the New York Times reported.

But board member J. Michael Luttig, a former U.S. circuit judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, who has become a vocal conservative critic of President Donald Trump, wasn’t buying it.

“The two chairmen’s reprehensible actions were all about Donald Trump and the celebration of the 250th anniversary of America’s founding on July 4, 2026, and nothing whatsoever about Mr. Rosen,” Luttig told the Guardian.

The president has indeed sought to put his own stamp not only on the U.S. birthday celebrations but on the nation’s cultural institutions. He has demanded exhibitions and programming at the Smithsonian Institution eliminate any so-called “woke” ideology, and installed himself as the head of the Kennedy Center, renaming it in his own honor and threatening a two-year closure following plummeting ticket sales. The Institute of Museum and Library Services has called for grant applications that align with Trump’s vision for U.S. culture.

The National Constitution Center. Photo courtesy of the National Constitution Center, Philadelphia.

Congress established the National Constitution Center, which opened in 2003, as a nonpartisan museum and national town hall through the Constitution Heritage Act in 1988. It is unclear whether or not politics played a role in Rosen’s ouster—and several sources who spoke to the Guardian denied that it did.

But the personnel change was undeniably dramatic. Rosen tendered his resignation, hoping the board would not accept it. Luttig rallied in his defense, threatening his own resignation, as well as a lawsuit, in emails. A virtual board meeting on January 7 lasted for hours, with George blocking Rosen from pleading his case to members.

The board ultimately accepted Rosen’s resignation, and issued a statement announcing the abrupt transition. He is now the chairman emeritus. Luttig is no longer listed as a board member on the museum website.