Watch: Brandon Gill Shows Museum Director No Mercy During Hearing on Wokeification of the Smithsonian
On Tuesday, the House Oversight Subcommittee on Delivering on Government Efficiency (DOGE) held a hearing on "Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian’s Efforts to Reshape the Past," which followed a detailed 162-page PDF report
issued by the White House Domestic Policy Council on July 4th that
documented the wokeification of the Smithsonian National Museum of
American History (NMAH) on an epic scale.
During the hearing, Republican Rep. Brandon Gill (TX-26) grilled Dr.
Anthea Hartig, the director of the museum, on issues including a "Mass
Action Tool Kit" that had been promoted by the museum under her
leadership. As my RedState colleague Bob Hoge might say, it wasn't even a fair fight,
as Hartig froze at various points during the questioning, feigned
ignorance at other points, and seemed more keen on writing down notes on
a notepad instead of directly answering Gill's questions.
I
asked the Director of the National Museum of American History if it was
appropriate for the Smithsonian Institution to sell "Latina power"
merchandise. pic.twitter.com/BjZg5xmIfS
Here are four key findings from the report the Domestic Policy Council released:
NMAH Fails to Substantively Present America’s Founders and Founding
NMAH Has “Problematized” the 250th Anniversary of America’s Founding
NMAH Removed “American History” from Its Mission Statement to “Get Out of the ‘America First’ Mentality”
NMAH Has Abandoned Historical Scholarship for Political Activism
They
also accused the Smithsonian of “anti-white,” “illegal alien,” and
“transgender activism,” and concluded there has been “ideological
capture at the museum,” something Gill further exposed at the hearing.
From the report:
The
serious concerns raised in this report are not about a few exhibits or a
few controversial labels. They concern whether America’s premier
history museum still presents America as a coherent nation and heritage
worth teaching with gratitude and honesty. The Museum can broaden the
story without dissolving the story. It can and should acknowledge
slavery, injustice, mistreatment of Native peoples, and other grave
wrongs without encouraging citizens to view their country mainly through
suspicion, resentment, and division. But that is not what the National
Museum of American History is doing. As it stands today, it would
benefit most Americans, especially parents bringing their children for a
tour, if the Smithsonian’s flagship history museum had a label at every
entrance that reads: “Warning: the exhibits in this museum were
prepared by people who don’t want you to love your country.”
The
findings of this report matter beyond the museum world. Not all
Americans follow academic theories or curatorial fashions, but they do
understand when a revered public institution has traded settled truths
and basic history for political activism and division. They do notice
when the heroes, principles, and events that formed the country are
pushed to the margins. They notice when their children are introduced to
inappropriate sexual and ideological content under the guise of civic
education. And they object when their children and grandchildren are
being indoctrinated to regard their country primarily as a source of
oppression and unresolved grievance.
The Rapid Response X account posted a thread full of examples, including images, of what the Council found here.
All of this stems from actions President Donald Trump took in the first year of his second term in office.
In March 2025, Trump signed an Executive Order
on “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” where it was noted
that “museums in our Nation’s capital should be places where
individuals go to learn — not to be subjected to ideological
indoctrination or divisive narratives that distort our shared history.”
In the section on “Saving Our Smithsonian,” here is what was put in place:
The
Vice President, in consultation with the Assistant to the President for
Domestic Policy and the Special Assistant to the President and Senior
Associate Staff Secretary, Lindsey Halligan, Esq., shall work to
effectuate the policies of this order through his role on the
Smithsonian Board of Regents with respect to the Smithsonian Institution
and its museums, education and research centers, and the National Zoo,
including by seeking to remove improper ideology from such properties,
and shall recommend to the President any additional actions necessary to
fully effectuate such policies.
A few months later, Trump ordered a comprehensive review of all Smithsonian museums ahead of America 250 festivities.
After
the report was released, there was much fretting about what else was to
come from the Trump administration regarding their efforts to root out
anti-Americanism in American institutions:
Current
and former members of the Smithsonian Board of Regents tell NBC News
they are anticipating this is not the end of the White House pressure
campaign to reshape the museum’s presentations, which has been a focus
in Trump’s second term. https://t.co/2vS9aCJWxk
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