"The city of Philadelphia on Thursday sued the Department of the Interior after National Park Service staff removed an exhibit on slavery from the President’s House site in Independence National Historical Park.

The lawsuit asks for a preliminary injunction to keep the displays up. It says the exhibit was removed “without notice” and “presumably pursuant” to President Trump’s executive order to remove signs and exhibits that “contain descriptions, depictions, or other content that inappropriately disparage Americans past or living (including persons living in colonial times).”

“The interpretive displays relating to enslaved persons at President’s House are an integral part of the exhibit and removing them would be a material alteration to the exhibit,” the lawsuit reads.

Signs acknowledging slavery at the President’s House were dismantled. One Independence Park employee told The Philadelphia Inquirer that his supervisor instructed him to take all of the signs down, saying they were “just following my orders.”"

Ryan Mancini reports for The Hill January 23, 2026. [2]