He was a member of the United States Commission of Fine Arts from 2018 to 2021 and served as its chairman in 2021, being the first Jew to hold that position.
[8][9][10][11] In November 2018, he was nominated by President Donald Trump to serve on the United States Commission of Fine Arts, an independent federal agency that oversees the design and construction of all buildings, monuments, and memorials in Washington, D.C.[12] On January 25, 2021, he was named chairman of the commission, succeeding Earl A. Powell III, former director of the National Gallery of Art.
[14] Shubow issued a statement to the White House, saying, "As chairman of the US Commission of Fine Arts, I was shocked and dismayed to learn that three of my fellow commissioners, along with myself, have been asked to resign or be terminated by the President.
Any such removal would set a terrible precedent.”[15] In December 2024 and January 2025, Martha MacCallum on Fox News Radio and the Chicago Tribune and reported that he is being considered for the position of chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts in the second Trump administration.
[16][17] He is married to Idris Leppla, an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University.