In a subcommittee hearing Tuesday, House Republicans sharply questioned the director of the National Museum of American History, Anthea Hartig.The GOP lawmakers' comments closely mirrored Trump administration's criticisms of the institution she leads as insufficiently patriotic.The hearing was held by the House's Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency, a branch of DOGE that is chaired by Rep.
Tim Burchett (R-Tenn).In his opening remarks, Burchett said: "I feel like [the Smithsonian]'s become infected by a woke ideology that seeped into public displays, educational materials and planning documents.The American story is the birth and growth of a great nation founded on powerful ideals and which we aim to fully achieve.
But in the museum's current telling, history is just an ongoing power struggle between oppressors and the oppressed."In a 162-page report issued on July 4, the White House Domestic Policy Council accused the Smithsonian museum of being "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 council faulted the National Museum of American History on a multitude of fronts, saying it underemphasized the Founding Fathers and early colonial and Revolutionary history; was not sufficiently celebratory of the country's 250th anniversary; and that it engaged in "anti-white," "illegal alien" and transgender activism.It also accused the museum of trying to "indoctrinate" teachers and students through its exhibitions, programming and teaching resources.Nearly in tandem with the hearing on Tuesday, House Democrats issued a 16-page rebuttal to the White House's report, which accuses the Trump administration of trying to undermine the trustworthiness of museums and museum scholars in general, and argues that it is part of a larger "effort to control and contort the historical record." Citing recent public opinion surveys, the Democrats ...