In September 2008, President George W. Bush nominated Greenwood to succeed Makoto Fujimura for a six-year term to the National Council on the Arts expiring in 2014. He was confirmed by the Senate via voice vote in October 2008. In 2015, President Barack Obama nominated Esperanza Spalding to succeed Greenwood; however, the nomination was not acted upon by the Senate, allowing Greenwood to continuing serving under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump until the Senate confirmed a nominated successor. In June 2021, President Joe Biden nominated Kamilah Forbes to succeed Greenwood. In September 2021, Greenwood told Fox and Friends that the Biden administration sent him an email informing him that the president had already nominated his replacement on the National Council on the Arts and expressed his "shock" at being replaced. Forbes got confirmed by the Senate on February 17, 2022, via voice vote.
