Biden names Lady Gaga co-chair of arts and humanities committee

She's not far from the White House now.

Lady Gaga has been named co-chair of President Biden's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, which advises the president "on cultural policy," the White House has announced. She will serve as co-chair alongside producer Bruce Cohen.

The White House's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities was founded in 1982 by former President Ronald Reagan. In 2017, members of the committee resigned en masse over then-President Donald Trump's Charlottesville response. Last year, though, Biden brought the committee back.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

The group advises the president and others "on policy, philanthropic and private sector engagement, and other efforts to enhance federal support for the arts, humanities, and museum and library services," the White House explained. Jon Batiste, George Clooney, Jennifer Garner, Troy Kotsur, Shonda Rhimes, and Kerry Washington were among those named members of the committee.

Gaga previously performed at Biden's inauguration in 2021 and campaigned for him during the 2020 election. They also worked together on the "It's On Us" campaign against sexual assault on college campuses. In a 2017 video released as part of that campaign, Biden called the singer a "great friend and a fierce advocate," who has "been the voice for people who have been forgotten and people who have been abused."