Rep. Brandon Gill, R-Texas, stated on Tuesday that the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History has embraced an ideology defining objectivity and politeness as characteristics of “white supremacist culture.”
During a House Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee hearing titled “Rewriting American History: Examining the Smithsonian’s Efforts to Reshape the Past,” Gill questioned museum director Anthea Hartig. Gill noted, “It’s crazy. They had been promoting an anti-racist toolkit that was used to determine whether somebody is promoting white supremacist culture. And one of the aspects of white supremacist culture, according to the Smithsonian’s own anti-racist toolkit, is objectivity.”
When asked if she believed objectivity should be a goal in historical analysis, Hartig confirmed “yes.” Gill then questioned whether politeness was also considered part of white supremacist culture, which she affirmed. He pressed further: “So I asked her if she was a white supremacist.”
The hearing followed a July 4 White House Domestic Policy Council report accusing the museum of ideological bias in its treatment of American founding, immigration, race, and gender. The 162-page report detailed that museum employees regularly discussed a “Museums as a Site for Social Action” toolkit identifying objectivity, individualism, and other traits as characteristics of white supremacist culture.
President Donald Trump ordered the review in March 2025 to address what his administration described as divisive or anti-American ideology at Smithsonian properties. In written testimony, Hartig stated the report did not fairly characterize the museum’s work and that exhibits are governed by standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship. She added: “I didn’t make these rules. These are the rules that the left made, and I think it’s our job to hold them to them.”
Gill also criticized the museum’s handling of immigration, transgender Americans, and popular culture—including a display connecting Mickey Mouse to blackface minstrelsy traditions. He argued the museum minimizes the nation’s founders while presenting politically progressive themes to young visitors, a point Hartig disputed.
Additionally, Gill predicted the House would approve a fiscal 2027 budget resolution to advance a third Republican reconciliation bill carrying portions of the SAVE America Act. The House Budget Committee advanced the resolution 20-14 last Thursday but requires full House and Senate passage before committee work begins. “We hope it will get through the Senate as well,” Gill stated. “What we’re trying to do is do anything we possibly can to get the SAVE America Act to the president’s desk.”
