Federal judge orders Trump administration to restore slavery exhibits to the President's House [View all]
Source: Philadelphia Inquirer
Updated Feb. 16, 2026, 1:53 p.m. ET | Published Feb. 16, 2026, 1:25 p.m. ET
A federal judge ordered President Donald Trump’s administration to restore the slavery exhibits that the National Park Service removed from the President’s House last month. U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe issued a ruling Monday requiring the federal government to “restore the President’s House Site to its physical status as of January 21, 2026,” which is the day before the exhibits were removed.
The order does not give the government a deadline for the restoration of the site. It does require that the National Park Service take steps to maintain the site and ensure the safety of the exhibits, which memorialize the enslaved people who lived in George Washington’s Philadelphia home during his presidency and were abruptly removed in January.
Rufe, a George W. Bush appointee, compares the federal government’s argument that it can unilaterally control the exhibits in national parks to the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984, a novel about a dystopian totalitarian regime.
“As if the Ministry of Truth in George Orwell’s 1984 now existed... this Court is now asked to determine whether the federal government has the power it claims — to dissemble and disassemble historical truths when it has some domain over historical facts," Rufe wrote. “It does not.”
Read more: https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/slavery-exhibits-presidents-house-site-philadelphia-restoration-federal-judge-ruling-trump-20260216.html
Just breaking. GOOD!!!
Link to ORDERS (PDFs)
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.648842/gov.uscourts.paed.648842.53.0.pdf
https://storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.uscourts.paed.648842/gov.uscourts.paed.648842.54.0.pdf
REFERENCES
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143603365
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143603549
https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143608812
Article updated.
Original article/headline -
Published Feb. 16, 2026, 1:25 p.m. ET
A federal judge ordered the Trump administration to restore the slavery exhibits that the National Park Service removed from the President's House last month. U.S. District Judge Cynthia M. Rufe issued a ruling Monday requiring the federal government to "restore the President's House Site to its physical status as of January 21, 2026," which is the day before the exhibits were removed.
The order does not give the government a deadline for the restoration of the site. It does require that the National Park Service take steps to maintain the site and ensure the safety of the exhibits.
The exhibits, which memorialize the enslaved people who lived in George Washington's Philadelphia home during his presidency, were abruptly removed in January.
Mayor Cherelle L. Parker's administration filed a federal lawsuit against Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and acting National Park Service Director Jessica Bowron, and their respective agencies, on the same day the exhibits were dismantled. The complaint argues that dismantling the exhibits was an "arbitrary and capricious" act that violated a 2006 cooperative agreement between the city and the federal government.
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