On Friday, President Trump initiated yet another shakeup in DC’s arts and culture scene with a claim via Truth Social that he’d fired National Portrait Gallery director Kim Sajet, on the basis of what he described as “highly partisan” behavior from her office. This announcement exacerbated existing uncertainty about the future of the Smithsonian Institution and its leadership, since it isn’t clear whether the president even has the power to make personnel decisions at the organization. The same day that Trump posted about Sajet’s dismissal, the administration leveled another blow to the Smithsonian’s operations: According to documents obtained by the Washington Post, Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III informed his staff of the White House’s proposed cuts to the institution’s budget, which include a 12 percent reduction in overall funding and a total elimination of financial support for both the Anacostia Community Museum and the planned National Museum of the American Latino.
While Trump has requested that Congress make these cuts, a Smithsonian spokesperson tells Washingtonian that the institute will not comment on the proposed budget until it actually receives its appropriation for the year—which could take months for the House and Senate to litigate. The institute will also not comment on the president’s claim about Sajet’s dismissal at this time, according to the spokesperson.
The fate of the National Museum of the American Latino has been hanging in the balance for more than two decades now. Back in 2o03, Congressional representatives Xavier Becerra, a Democrat from California, and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, a Republican from Florida—neither of whom hold office anymore—introduced an initial bill advocating for the creation of the museum. However, no legislation to officially establish the museum was passed by Congress until the National Museum of the American Latino Act of 2020, which Trump signed into law during his first term. That bill also called for the development of the American Women’s History Museum. Its passage allowed for both museums to function in an online capacity, but included no plans for either to have a physical building.
Currently, the National Museum of the American Latino offers online resources, and its physical exhibits are housed at the National Museum of American History’s Molina Family Latino Gallery. Representative Nicole Malliotakis, a Republican from New York, put forth two separate pieces of legislation on the matter this February—one to build the National Museum of the American Latino, and another to build the American Women’s History Museum. Malliotakis’ bills call for both museums to be constructed on the National Mall. Trump has endorsed her efforts to construct the women’s museum, but he has not expressed his support for the Latino heritage museum.
Meanwhile, the Anacostia Community Museum does currently operate from a building in its namesake neighborhood, which it has occupied since 1987. It is unclear what would happen to the museum’s physical space and programming should it lose its government funding.
