House Republicans grill Smithsonian director over US history exhibits

WASHINGTON (MNTV) — House Republicans accused the National Museum of American History of pushing a progressive agenda rather than a balanced account of the past, questioning its director at a hearing that followed a White House report charging Smithsonian institutions with political activism.

Before the House Administration Committee, Republican lawmakers pressed director Anthea Hartig over the museum’s exhibitions, teaching approach, and her past remarks.

They argued some displays dwell too much on conflict and social issues at the expense of national achievements. Representative Greg Murphy of North Carolina called the museum’s viewpoint left-leaning, and Chairman Bryan Steil of Wisconsin objected to Hartig’s earlier observation that love of America can be complicated.

Hartig defended the museum’s mission, saying an honest account of the United States has to include both its accomplishments and its harder chapters, rejecting the suggestion the institution lacks patriotism, and inviting lawmakers to tour the exhibitions.

Her point was straightforward: a museum’s job is to educate by presenting the country’s history in full, context included.

The objection reveals what is actually at stake. The complaint is not that any exhibit is inaccurate but that it is uncomfortable, and the remedy sought is that a museum present a more flattering story.

Democratic lawmakers defended the institution and warned against the administration deciding which parts of American history are acceptable to show. Government officials pressing a museum to soften the record is not oversight of scholarship; it is an attempt to legislate national memory.