Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch Defends Institution Against White House Criticism

By providing your information, you agree to our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. We use vendors that may also process your information to help provide our services. In an email to his staff, American educator, historian, and Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III pushed back against a recent White House Domestic Policy Council report which accused the Smithsonian National Museum of American History of veering towards a mission rooted in “extreme political activism.” Bunch’s email, which was published by the Washington Post on July 8, rejected these claims, asserting that the Smithsonian’s work “is not a fair characterization of the work and totality of the National Museum of American History.” The 162-page report, published on July 4, argued that the National Museum of American History tells a story of the country grounded in “regret, tragedy, and shame,” excludes the stories of the Founding Era figures, and discredits “traditional patriotic narratives.” Bunch, in his email, responded that the Smithsonian’s work “is driven by scholarship, accuracy, and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America’s story.” This is the latest attempt by the Smithsonian to resist pressure from the Trump administration, which proposed cutting the institution’s budget by 12 percent for fiscal year 2026, although Congress retained this funding. As reported by the New York Times, around 62 percent of the museum’s near-$1 billion budget comes from federal sources. Last year, the White House announced an internal review of eight Smithsonian institutions in a letter to Bunch, citing a desire to “ensure alignment with the President’s directive to celebrate American exceptionalism, remove divisive or partisan narratives,” in preparation for the US semiquincentennial celebrations. Despite the Trump administration’s attempts to gain greater control over the institution, the Smithsonian has affirmed its nonpartisan stance and independence from the federal government. The institution oversees twenty-one museums, fourteen education and research centers, as well as the National Zoo, and its mission is grounded in “the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” With turnover expected among the institution’s governing Board of Regents, and calls from conservative pundits to oust Bunch, the secretary told the New York Times in an interview that this pressure “is not something to be afraid of, this is something where you stand firm to make sure that the integrity of this mission is protected.”