Trump can’t keep his hands off anything. In his mad dash to be king, he has decided to reshape the Smithsonian Institution. Will he close exhibits he doesn’t like? We know he’s completely ignorant of history, so whatever he does will suit his prejudices. He has put JD Vance in charge. Will he withdraw references to “the trail of tears”? Will he remove references to the brutality of slavery?
Kelsey Ables of The Washington Post reported:
The Smithsonian, a sprawling, 21-museum institution tasked with telling the story of the United States and much more, could see changes under President Donald Trump, who in a Thursday executive order set his sights on ridding the institution of ideas that he says “undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States.”
According to a White House fact sheet summarizing the order, the president has instructed the vice president “to eliminate improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” from the institution’s entities.
Trump’s unprecedented call to influence programming at an institution that has operated largely independently for its more than 175-year history raises questions about the fate of millions of items the country holds in what’s sometimes called “the nation’s attic.”
But who runs and funds the Smithsonian and can Trump overhaul it like he is the federal government? Here’s what to know.
The Smithsonian was created by Congress in 1846 with funds from James Smithson, a British scientist who left his estate to the United States to establish an institution “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge.” Smithson never visited the United States, though his remains are now housed at the Smithsonian Institution Building, known as the Castle.
These days, the Smithsonian is about 62 percent federally funded by a combination of congressional appropriation along with federal grants and contracts. The rest comes from trust funds or nonfederal sources, which include endowments, donations and memberships, as well as revenue from magazines, restaurants, concessions and more. The institution’s federal budget for the 2024 fiscal year was more than $1 billion.
Is the Smithsonian a government agency?
No, the Smithsonian is not a federal agency but a “trust instrumentality” of the United States, tasked with carrying out the responsibilities undertaken by Congress when it accepted Smithson’s donation. It’s overseen by the secretary, currently Lonnie G. Bunch III, who is appointed by the Board of Regents — made up of the chief justice, vice president, three members of the Senate, three members of the House and nine citizens.
The Smithsonian describes itself as the “world’s largest museum, education, and research complex” and includes 21 museums — two in development — 14 education and research centers, and the National Zoo. It holds a dizzying array of objects, from fighter jets hanging from the high ceilings of the Udvar-Hazy Center all the way down to the tiny specimens at the National Museum of Natural History.
