Full Breakdown
Congressional Hearings Target Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History
7/24/2026, 3:17:17 AM
Core Event
In July 2026 the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, Anthea Hartig, testified before two House subcommittees after a 162-page White House Domestic Policy Council report accused the museum of “radical activist ideology” and “institutional capture.” Republican lawmakers questioned Hartig about specific exhibits—including the 2021-2025 “The Electric Dr. Franklin” display—and about the museum’s overall patriotic tone. Hartig responded that she is proud of the museum’s work, acknowledges occasional factual errors, and maintains that the institution remains nonpartisan.
Background & Context
The report follows more than a year of administration pressure to “cleanse improper ideology” from Smithsonian institutions, a campaign that began with criticism of the museum’s handling of slavery and has extended to recent exhibits on gender identity and the founding era.
Data & Statistics
- The “The Electric Dr. Franklin” exhibit opened to the public in 2021 and is scheduled to remain on view through 2025.
- The museum’s collection comprises roughly 1.7 million objects.
- Hartig cited 368 objects and 340 labels related to the founding era, with George Washington mentioned 54 times across the Kenneth Behring Hall of Military History.
- The museum’s “Girlhood (It’s Complicated)” exhibit, closed in 2023, addressed transgender youth.
- The museum houses 45 banjos and a 15-foot-tall reproduction of the Declaration of Independence.
Official Statements & Responses
- The Smithsonian charter states that all 21 museums, 14 research centers, and the National Zoo operate independently of the federal government.
- **Lonnie G.
Verbatim Quotes
- “Why smear a Founding Father such as Ben Franklin by pondering such a really bizarre thing,” — Mike Gonzalez, heritage foundation expert
- “The White House Domestic Policy Council wrote that the "Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic.” — Further
- “When one is dealing with momentous events, showing a full picture of their occurrence so long as it’s unbiased and it’s balanced is a role for the Smithsonian,” — Michael Heyman
- “I feel like [the Smithsonian]'s become infected by a woke ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents. The American story is the birth and growth of a great nation founded on powerful ideals and which we aim to fully achieve. But in the museum's current telling, history is just an ongoing power struggle between oppressors and the oppressed.” — Rep. Tim Burchett
Conflicting Reports & Gaps
The two accounts differ on whether the exhibit presented the possibility as speculation or as an asserted fact, and no independent verification of the exhibit’s wording is provided.
What’s Next
Hartig is scheduled to appear before the House Administration Committee on the Wednesday following the hearings to address further questions about museum programming and exhibit content.
