Rep.Mike Carey, R-Ohio, grilled Smithsonian leadership at a hearing on Wednesday on why the National Museum of American History (NMAH) had dropped mention of "American history" from its mission statement in"You explained that the museum removed the phrase ‘American history’ from the mission statement in order to help people ‘to get out of the America-first mentality,’ Carey said, posing his question to Anthea Hartig, NMAH administrator."What did you mean by America-first?" he asked.Carey’s line of questioning, made during a Committee on House Administration hearing on Wednesday, comes as Republicans in Congress have made preserving America’s heritage a proxy for larger struggles over national identity and cultural values.'THE VIEW' CO-HOST WHINES SMITHSONIAN HEARINGS ARE ABOUT TRUMP ADMINISTRATION NOT WANTING TO PAY REPARATIONSFrom left, Anthea Hartig, director of the Smithsonian Institute's National Museum of American History, Mike Gonzalez, Angeles T.
Arredondo E Pluribus Unum Senior Fellow, The Heritage Foundation, and Matthew Spalding, professor in constitutional government and dean of Hillsdale College's Van Andel Graduate School of Government, testify during the House Oversight and Government Reform Delivering on Government Efficiency Subcommittee hearing titled "Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian's Efforts to Reshape the Past," in Rayburn building on Tuesday, July 21, 2026.(Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)Progressive thinkers, such as Hartig, have argued that keeping the darker parts of American history in view should inform an understanding of the country’s past — and help set its policy direction in the present.In response, many Republican lawmakers have voiced deep unrest over efforts to characterize the U.S.
as marked by oppression or slavery — such as the New York Times’ 1619 Project.Many conservatives have argued that the American ideals, laid out in documents like the Declaration of Independence...