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4w ago

White House Releases 162‑Page Report Accusing Smithsonian Museum of 'Ideological Capture'

The document urges senior officials to seek reforms and frames federal funding as the leverage to pressure the partially public Smithsonian.

WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 14: Visitors experience the exhibits at the recently re-opened National Museum of American History on November 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. The museum is one of two Smithsonian institutions that re-opened following the record 43-day federal government shutdown. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
FILE - The Smithsonian Museum of American History is pictured on the National Mall in Washington, April 3, 2019. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)
A sign stands outside a Smithsonian Institution building during the first day of a partial government shutdown, in Washington, DC, on October 1, 2025.
WASHINGTON, DC - NOVEMBER 14: Visitors walk through the lobby of the recently re-opened National Museum of American History on November 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. The museum is one of two Smithsonian institutions that re-opened following the record 43-day federal government shutdown. on November 14, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Overview

  • The White House Domestic Policy Council published a 162‑page report on July 4 that says the National Museum of American History has moved from neutral scholarship to "extreme political activism" that erases founding‑era narratives.
  • The report singles out NMAH director Anthea Hartig by name and cites specific exhibits and plans—including Upending 1620, the 2021 Interpretive Plan, Becoming US, and pop‑culture displays—as evidence of an identity‑focused agenda.
  • The review follows President Trump's March 27, 2025 executive order and an August 2025 White House audit that led officials to demand Smithsonian documents and threaten withholding federal funds during a yearlong oversight campaign.
  • The Smithsonian has publicly rejected the report's charge of ideological capture, with a spokesperson and Secretary Lonnie Bunch defending the institution's long record of independent, nonpartisan scholarship.
  • The report asks the president to press the Chief Justice (as Smithsonian chancellor), the Vice President, and the Speaker to pursue reforms, but it lists no immediate enforcement steps and leaves open the possibility of future budget or governance actions because the Smithsonian receives more than $1 billion in federal appropriations.