Protect Smithsonian Independence From Political Interference

As a constituent, I urge you to act to protect the Smithsonian Institution from political interference. The Trump administration is pressuring Smithsonian leaders over museum exhibits and programming and has threatened to reduce federal support - including artifact loans, grants, procurement help, and other cooperation - unless the Institution changes course. This dispute is fundamentally about who controls the Smithsonian. Questions about historical accuracy or balance should be resolved through scholarship and the Smithsonian’s governance process, not by allowing any President to use federal resources as leverage over museum content. CONGRESS CREATED THE SMITHSONIAN AND MUST PROTECT ITS INDEPENDENCE Congress created the Smithsonian in 1846 and placed its governance in a 17-member Board of Regents that includes six members of Congress. Federal law assigns the Institution’s business to that Board, which selects the Smithsonian Secretary. The Regents have affirmed that personnel decisions belong to the Secretary, subject to Board oversight. Circumventing that structure would weaken Smithsonian independence and Congress’s authority. EXECUTIVE PRESSURE THREATENS SMITHSONIAN INDEPENDENCE The administration has reviewed exhibitions, threatened funding, attempted to remove a museum director, and warned that agencies could withhold artifact loans, grants, procurement assistance, and other cooperation. Its latest letter alleged possible antidiscrimination violations without identifying supporting evidence. Credible allegations of legal violations should be investigated lawfully, not used as a pretext for political control of scholarship or historical interpretation. SMITHSONIAN INDEPENDENCE MUST OUTLAST EVERY ADMINISTRATION These protections should apply regardless of which party controls the White House. No President should determine how the Smithsonian presents American history by threatening resources it needs to operate. Please use Congress’s legislative, spending, oversight, and governance authority to: (1) PROTECT FEDERAL SUPPORT. Prohibit executive agencies from withholding Smithsonian funding, grants, artifact loans, procurement assistance, or cooperation because of exhibition content, scholarship, programming, or personnel decisions. (2) BAR EXECUTIVE CONTROL. Prohibit the President, White House, or executive agencies from directing Smithsonian decisions on exhibitions, collections, scholarship, programming, or personnel, or conditioning federal support on those decisions. (3) INVESTIGATE EXECUTIVE PRESSURE. Hold hearings and obtain documents to identify who authorized the reviews and threats, what agencies were told to withhold cooperation, and what evidence supports asserted legal violations. (4) USE CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY ON THE BOARD. Urge the six congressional Regents to defend Smithsonian independence and seek a Board resolution rejecting political interference with its scholarship, content, and personnel. Thank you.