3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Jul 30
Summary
Anthea M. Hartig testified before a congressional panel after a White House report accused the National Museum of American History of downplaying the founders and promoting “extreme political activism.”
Republican lawmakers used the report to press Hartig on who authorized the museum’s direction, with one member also attacking an exhibition on girlhood for exploring identity issues.
Kim Sajet, who resigned last year after Trump sought her firing from the National Portrait Gallery, said Hartig’s treatment looked like another “witch hunt” against a Smithsonian director.
The clash extends a broader Republican campaign against alleged “woke ideology” at the Smithsonian, even as the institution has asserted its independence from direct White House control.