{"id":216,"date":"2026-06-05T09:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=216"},"modified":"2026-06-05T09:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T09:38:12","slug":"trump-is-eyeing-control-of-smithsonians-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/modernhomejournals.com\/?p=216","title":{"rendered":"Trump Is Eyeing Control of Smithsonian’s Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A directive from the Office of Management and Budget could force the Smithsonian Institution to change its spending plans to match President Donald Trump\u2019s priorities \u2014 or risk not getting some of the money Congress appropriated for its operations.<\/p>\n

Read more Senate Republicans Are \u2018Past the Boiling Point\u2019 With Trump<\/a><\/p>\n

An apportionment \u2014 documents that direct federal agencies on how to spend congressionally approved money \u2014 approved by OMB in May is aimed at compelling the Smithsonian to spend<\/u><\/span> congressionally appropriated funding in a way that\u2019s \u201cconsistent with the FY 2026 President\u2019s Budget\u201d in order to receive it. The president\u2019s budget differed widely from what Congress ultimately chose to fund.<\/p>\n

OMB also instructed<\/u><\/span> the Smithsonian to submit a request \u201cspecifying each activity and the associated estimated federal obligation amount.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump has repeatedly tried to reshape the Smithsonian, insisting its prior offerings were too \u201cwoke<\/u><\/span>\u201d and insufficiently patriotic. The May directive puts the Smithsonian in a major bind, creating hurdles to access congressional funding, experts said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe budget guys at the Smithsonian, it puts them in a ridiculous position,\u201d a former Hill staffer and appropriations expert who would only talk on the condition of anonymity told NOTUS. \u201cIf they spend money that OMB tells them to spend, then they\u2019re in violation of the Antideficiency Act, which dates back to the Civil War. It involves an agency or a person spending money that\u2019s not been appropriated, and it has criminal fucking penalties, man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd if they don\u2019t spend money Congress told them to spend, then they\u2019re in violation of the Impoundment Control Act, which does not have criminal penalties. But it\u2019s a pretty good constitutional crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

OMB did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Andrew Mosely, director of the Smithsonian\u2019s office of Planning, Management and Budget, referred questions regarding the current fiscal year\u2019s budget to the Smithsonian\u2019s press office. The Smithsonian Institution did not respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n

Two federal laws help balance the relationship between OMB and Congress. The Impoundment Control Act<\/u><\/span> allows the president to withhold or rescind congressionally appropriated funding. Recision would require congressional approval.<\/p>\n

The Antideficiency Act<\/u><\/span> prevents agencies from spending federal funds before Congress has appropriated them or using more than what lawmakers allocated. The penalties for defying the act would also apply to not following the OMB\u2019s recent guidance, according to Cerin Lindgrensavage, counsel for<\/u><\/span> Protect Democracy, an advocacy organization that tracks apportionments.<\/p>\n

The language in the OMB footnote suggests that the administration could \u201cpotentially\u201d provide the Smithsonian with less funding than what was included in the appropriations bill, Lindgrensavage told NOTUS.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are a lot of restrictions on how you can and cannot use federal funds that people who spend federal funds are responsible for making sure they obey,\u201d Lindgrensavage said. \u201cThe thing that I think is problematic here is that this isn\u2019t just the same old kind of footnote that says, \u2018Hey, follow the rules.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a very different kind of footnote that says, \u2018Hey, we want you to follow the president\u2019s budget request \u2014 which is not law\u2014 in lieu of following the appropriations law, which is.\u201d<\/p>\n

Appropriations experts have called this footnote unusual, but they say that it tracks with how this administration\u2019s OMB has tried to influence and restrict how agencies spend money.<\/p>\n

Read more Sen. Tillis\u2019 Vote Is Key in Blanche\u2019s Bid To Stay Atop the DOJ<\/a><\/p>\n

Mark Harkins, a congressional expert who served more than a decade on the Hill, told NOTUS that OMB isn\u2019t required to for each museum that Congress laid out in its explanatory statement because they\u2019re <\/p>\n

OMB has historically followed those allotments as a \u201cgentleman\u2019s agreement,\u201d Harkins said. While Congress could put its expectations into law, doing so would leave agencies less flexibility with their budget.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe hammer is that Congress comes back this year and says, \u2018Well, if you\u2019re not going to follow what we gave you as guidance, this year, we\u2019re going to make that chart law,\u2019\u201d Harkins said. \u201cSo they could make it law, but that hamstrings the agency, because now you can\u2019t move money between the different museums, if there\u2019s something that comes up [like] if one floods.\u201d<\/p>\n

There aresignificant differences between the money approved for the Smithsonian museums and what Trump\u2019s spending blueprint called for. For example, Congress in January passed<\/u><\/span> nearly $1 million more in Smithsonian salaries and expense funding than what Trump\u2019s budget called for.<\/p>\n

Lawmakers also intended for the National Museum of the American Latino to receive more than $10 million and for the Anacostia Community Museum to get more than $3 million, according to a report by Congress explaining the legislation. Neither was allocated funding in the president\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n

Congress advised OMB to apportion millions more in funding for other Smithsonian institutions, like the Astrophysical Observatory, than the president requested.<\/p>\n

The OMB has not fully apportioned the funding for the Smithsonian\u2019s \u201cmain operating account,\u201d a staffer for Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Oregon), ranking member on the Senate\u2019s Interior, Environment, and other Related Agencies Appropriations subcommittee, told NOTUS last week.<\/p>\n

The staffer said the National Museum of the American Latino received full funding despite the president requesting no money for the museum. The staffer said they think it\u2019s a stretch that the reference to the president\u2019s budget will affect Smithsonian funding for the current fiscal year.<\/p>\n

\u201cOMB apportions funding,\u201d the staffer told NOTUS in an email when asked about the footnote. \u201cThis is based on funding enacted into law. We view the reference to the President\u2019s Budget as no longer relevant to this funding, and many see this as an overreach.\u201d<\/p>\n

The footnote is the latest attempt by the administration to put its imprint on the Smithsonian. Last year, the administration accused the institution of being influenced by \u201ca divisive, race-centered ideology\u201d and issued an executive order<\/u><\/span> to prevent the museum from using federal funding on exhibits that focus on race.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an effort to enforce the order, Trump officials required<\/u><\/span> that Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch submit documentation for the institution\u2019s exhibits as part of a \u201ccomprehensive internal review\u201d process. included reviewing exhibition catalogues, interviewing curators and reviewing employee manuals.<\/p>\n

As a result of a slow response<\/u><\/span> to the administration\u2019s request, the administration threatened to withhold Smithsonian funding in December.<\/p>\n

Read more House Passes Ukraine Aid in Rebuke of Republican Leaders<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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