Interior Secretary Burgum and White House official Haley threatened to cut federal support for Smithsonian over museum's Interpretive Plan

On August 28, 2026, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and White House Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley sent a letter to the Smithsonian Institution's Board of Regents warning that federal agencies "cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership" by "loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants." The letter targeted the National Museum of American History's "Interpretive Plan," which the officials wrote directs staff to tie exhibits to "the core issues of our time" — including race and identity, gender and sexuality, immigration and migration, and economic inequality — "whatever the topic." Burgum and Haley called that approach an "ideological agenda" and cited, as an example, museum staff traveling to Mexico to interview deported people. They further alleged, without providing examples, that the Smithsonian's "institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law," and asked to meet the Board of Regents in person to discuss the findings.

The Smithsonian, chartered by Congress in 1846, operates as a public-private trust rather than an executive agency, but draws roughly two-thirds of its budget from federal appropriations and depends on ongoing government cooperation for loans, procurement, and grant-making. The August 28 letter follows Trump's March 27, 2025 executive order "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History" and a July 4, 2026 White House Domestic Policy Council report, "Saving America's Story," that accused the museum's leadership of "extreme political activism." Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch told staff in a July email that the report "is not a fair characterization" of the museum's work, which he said is "driven by scholarship, accuracy and an uncompromising commitment to tell the fullness of America's story."

Both the Smithsonian and the National Museum of American History declined to comment on the letter. In a statement to reporters, the White House said "very few Americans" want the museum to serve as, in its director's words, a "prime tool of social justice," and said it expected the Smithsonian would "eventually rise" to what it called an obligation to tell America's story. As of this recording, no meeting between administration officials and the Board of Regents, and no response from the Board itself, had been publicly reported.

This letter is a distinct act from the Smithsonian entries already in the archive: the March 2025 executive order directed removal of specific museum content, and the July 2026 order installed physical signage discrediting exhibits, but this letter instead threatens to withdraw federal agencies' cooperation and funding streams as leverage to force a change to the museum's own curatorial planning document — using budget and logistical dependency, not a content directive, as the mechanism of pressure.

Updates

2026-09-08 — Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch announced his retirement amid the pressure campaign [6, 7, 8, 9]

Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III — the institution's first Black secretary, in the role since 2019 after nearly 38 years at the Smithsonian — announced he will retire by the end of the year, saying in a statement the decision came "with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude." The announcement came one week after the Interior Department's August 28 letter threatening to cut off federal support and amid the administration's broader monthslong criticism of the museum's exhibits. Bunch told the New York Times that administration pressure "was not the reason" he resigned, but a person familiar with his thinking told NBC News he would have retired a year earlier had he not felt he needed to stay and defend the institution from the White House's attacks; NBC News also reported no pressure for his departure came from the Smithsonian's own Board of Regents.