In a resignation letter protesting the ouster of former Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum director Caroline Baumann for suspected improprieties involving her purchase of a bargain designer wedding dress, architect David Rockwell of Rockwell Group writes, "We all serve on the board because we share the principles of the institution and the values of its leadership. I cannot in good conscience continue on the board given how Caroline’s dismissal was handled.”

Along with their expertise, several of the departing trustees are taking funding they had planned to provide to the museum with them. 

The Cooper-Hewitt is run by the Smithsonian Institute, a partially publicly funded entity that, according to a The New York Times report from journalist Robin Pogrebin, has a conflict of interest policy stating that employees "must not engage in private or personal activities that might conflict, or appear to conflict, with Smithsonian interests, such as using Smithsonian employment for private gain” or  appear to give “preferential treatment to any person or company for any reason.”