White House review of Smithsonian’s America 250 plans underway
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The White House is reviewing extensive Smithsonian documentation about current and planned exhibits as part of a broader probe into how federally funded museums portray U.S.history ahead of the 250th anniversary. OMB General Counsel Mark Paoletta said the Smithsonian has provided additional materials that are now under review. The review stems from concerns by the Trump management—expressed by OMB Director Russ Vought—that some Smithsonian content presents an overly negative, progressive or “Marxist” view of American history and that museums should convey a positive account of the nation’s founding and achievements. The White House initially requested records from Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch in August and followed up in December after missing earlier deadlines, demanding exhibition texts, didactics, proposals and budgets, object checklists, governance manuals, and approval chain-of-command documents by Jan. 13, 2026.Officials say the materials are necessary to ensure national museums reflect “unity, progress, and enduring values” as the country prepares for the semiquincentennial.
White House review of Smithsonian’s America 250 plans underway
The White House has obtained extensive documentation from the Smithsonian Institution detailing its operations, as the Trump administration conducts a review of one of the country’s most prestigious cultural centers.
“The Smithsonian provided additional documents to the White House per the White House’s letter requesting additional materials on exhibits. The documents are currently being reviewed, and we will continue to engage with the Smithsonian upon our review,” Office of Management and Budget General Counsel Mark Paoletta told the Washington Examiner.
The development marks the Trump administration’s latest effort to eradicate federally funded exhibits, shows, and guidelines from the sprawling Smithsonian network that it believes negatively frames U.S. history from a progressive, Marxist perspective.
“The American people will have no patience for any museum that is diffident about America’s founding or otherwise uncomfortable conveying a positive view of American history, one which is justifiably proud of our country’s accomplishments and record,” OMB Director Russ Vought wrote in a letter last year to the Smithsonian.
The White House initially requested the materials from Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch last August, saying it wanted to ensure “national museums reflect the unity, progress, and enduring values that define the American story,” ahead of the United States’s 250th anniversary of independence in July.
In December, Vought and other officials sent Bunch another letter, complaining that the White House had not yet received documentation of current exhibition descriptions, draft plans for upcoming shows, upcoming programming materials, and internal guidelines used in exhibition development. Vought requested that the materials be delivered by Jan. 13, 2026, saying that the Smithsonian had missed a Sept. 11, 2025, deadline.
“Current wall texts and didactics, exhibition proposals and budgets, object checklists for upcoming programming, internal governance manuals, and chain-of-command records for content approval are not obscure archival requests,” he wrote. “These are the records that every accredited museum is expected to maintain and produce without delay, as they provide the basis for responsible stewardship of significant national collections and for meeting the rigorous transparency standards imposed by federal law, the Smithsonian’s own directives, and the professional standards of the museum field.”
The letter added concerns about the Smithsonian Institution’s readiness to celebrate the semiquincentennial, saying the White House is seeking assurance that leadership is not “confused about the fact that the United States has been among the greatest forces for good in the history of the world.”
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