Smithsonian Leadership Engages In ‘Extreme Political Activism’
By Bryan Hyde
A new White House report says the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History (NMAH) has become a taxpayer-backed institution of “ideological capture” and “extreme political activism.”
According to Just the News, the “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage.” report from the Domestic Policy Council details the “ideological capture” and “activism” infecting the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
The council’s review of the Smithsonian museum was in response to a March 27, 2025, executive order aimed at purging “revisionist” and ideological materials from U.S. history references and exhibits at taxpayer funded museums and sites.
White House report accuses Smithsonian museum of ‘extreme political activism’ and erasing nation’s heritage
The 162-page report on the National Museum of American History marks an escalation of President Donald Trump’s criticism of the Smithsonian museums.… pic.twitter.com/Iy2VklgysM
— Tony Seruga (@TonySeruga) July 6, 2026
The museum was first approved by Congress in 1955 to tell the national story of the United States and to “place before” visitors “a stimulating permanent exposition that commemorates our heritage of freedom and highlights the basic elements of our way of life.”
In its July 4 report, the Domestic Policy Council wrote:
The report concludes that the Smithsonian Institution, and the National Museum of American History in particular, under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America’s story honestly and in a way that is inspiring, unifying, and worthy of our great republic. By the intention and at the direction of current Museum and Smithsonian leadership, NMAH has become subject to institutional capture by a radical, activist ideology that is fundamentally opposed to telling the noble, honest story of the great country we know and love.
The report goes on to document, in the words of Museum leadership, how ideological capture has moved the Museum’s mission away from straightforward historical education and scholarship toward an extreme political activism that seeks to transform the country.
The council specifically singled out the museum’s director, Anthea Hartig, and criticized her leadership, arguing she has presented the museum as an instrument of her own “social justice” agenda.
The report also criticizes the museum’s approach to race, immigration, gender and sexuality, alleging that exhibits and programming have been shaped by modern activist priorities rather than neutral historical scholarship, according to Fox News.
The Domestic Policy Council provided citations of evidence from the museum itself and Hartig’s public statements including a 2020 statement made during the George Floyd and Black Lives Matter protests in which Hartig said, “We work to reframe the traditional, celebratory narrative of U.S. history for visitors …”
Among the report’s main concerns is the lack of a major exhibit dedicated to the American founding era, including the Founding Fathers, the Continental Congress or major moments of the American Revolution.