Trump Administration Threatens Smithsonian Support Over $1 Billion Funding and Bias Probe
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 3
Trump Administration Threatens Smithsonian Support Over $1 Billion Funding and Bias Probe
2 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 3
Summary
A newly public Interior Department-White House letter warns the Smithsonian it could lose federal support unless it addresses alleged discrimination and ideological bias across its museums.
The administration says it found signs of possible federal antidiscrimination violations, including a hostile work environment and race-based allocation of opportunities, funding and benefits, though the letter cites no specific evidence.
Rather than directly targeting the Smithsonian’s roughly $1 billion in annual federal funding, officials said agencies could stop loaning artifacts, facilitating procurement and issuing discretionary grants under current leadership.
The letter demands talks with administration officials and says any adequate response must address executive leadership and institutional ideology, giving added weight to four board of regents openings due by October.
The clash extends Trump’s 2025 order to remove what it called improper ideology from the Smithsonian, while the institution says its museums document American life broadly and do not take sides in political debates.