Smithsonian museum director stands up for its work amid GOP criticism

People look at the Gunboat Philadelphia as it's being preserved while they visit the Smithsonian National Museum of American History in November 2025 in Washington, D.C. The museum's director, Anthea Hartig, spoke at a House committee hearing Tuesday amid claims against the museum by the Trump administration. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo July 21 (UPI) -- Anthea Hartig, the director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, spoke up for the museum's work Tuesday, saying it's governed by "standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence and nonpartisanship." "The museum does not take sides in America's political debates," Hartig told lawmakers at a House subcommittee hearing. "We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all of its breadth, so that the public can encounter the past and draw their own conclusions." Hartig's appearance at the hearing comes a few weeks after the White House attacked the museum in a report, claiming that it practiced "extreme political activism" in exhibits and language. Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., later directed Hartig to testify on what he called "misuse of federal funds" and promoting "divisive, politically [biased] revisions of American history." Burchett said in his letter to Hartig that Smithsonian historians "either lack an understanding of the nation's heritage or are determined to blatantly mischaracterize and disparage the American experiment." On Tuesday, Hartig pushed back on the Trump administration's claims, saying the Smithsonian continues to fact-check the report, and "we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum." The White House's July 4 report accuses the museum of promoting "anti-white activism," "illegal alien activism" and "transgender activism" and says the museum's leaders do not love the United States. Hartig on Tuesday countered that claim and invited the lawmakers to visit the museum themselves. "I believe what you will find, madams and sirs, is not an institution that has forgotten its country, but one that loves it enough to tell the full sweep of history, our triumphs and our struggles," she said. "I love the United States of America. I consider it the privilege of my career to help preserve its treasures and serve the American people." Also Tuesday, Democrats issued a rebuttal to the White House report on the museum, asserting that the Trump administration misreported basic facts and mischaracterized quotes from Hartig, as well as contradicted itself in the report. "The Smithsonian was established as an independent institution precisely so no president could dictate how our nation's story is told," Rep. Joe Morelle, D-N.Y., said in a statement. "Committee Democrats will continue defending that independence because no president gets to edit the American story." Morelle is the top Democrat on the House Administration Committee,which oversees the Smithsonian. Hartig is also expected to testify Wednesday before that committee. People visit the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum on the first day it has reopened since the government shutdown in Washington on November 14, 2025. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo Read More Smithsonian sends cache of files to the White House White House releases list of Smithsonian exhibits Trump dislikes Federal appeals court: Trump's name stays off Kennedy Center