Roberts Urged to Defend 21-Site Smithsonian as Bunch’s Exit Opens Succession Fight
Updated
Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 8
Roberts Urged to Defend 21-Site Smithsonian as Bunch’s Exit Opens Succession Fight
3 articles · Updated · The Washington Post · Sep 8
Summary
Lonnie G. Bunch III’s planned departure after 7 years as Smithsonian secretary has shifted attention to Chief Justice John Roberts, the institution’s chancellor, as regents choose a successor.
March 2025 marked the start of direct White House pressure, when President Donald Trump targeted the Smithsonian in an executive order; Vice President JD Vance, a member of the 17-seat Board of Regents, has led the broader attack.
Roberts is portrayed as one of the few figures with enough institutional weight to resist a politically driven appointment, even if his formal powers are limited and largely ceremonial.
The stakes extend beyond one leadership change: critics warn that if the administration installs an ideologue, the Smithsonian’s scholars and curators could leave and the 21-museum-and-zoo complex could be hollowed out like the Kennedy Center.