'The museum does not take sides': Smithsonian official says amid Trump criticism

A scathing White House report accused museum leaders of "radical" activism.

The director of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History (MNAH) defended its work in a congressional hearing on Tuesday morning amid sharp criticism from the White House over the contents of the Washington, D.C. museum.

"Our work is governed by the Smithsonian standards of scholarship, accuracy, independence, and nonpartisanship," Anthea Hartig said. "The museum does not take sides in America's political debates. 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."

She is also expected to testify in a related hearing on Wednesday before the Committee on House Administration, a committee spokesperson confirmed to ABC News.

Hartig was named in a scathing White House Domestic Policy Council report released on July 4, accusing the MNAH and its leadership of engaging in "extreme political activism" and presenting "a radical view of American history."

"The Smithsonian takes the concerns raised in the White House Domestic Policy Council's report seriously, and as we continue to fact-check the report, we unwaveringly attest that it does not fairly or accurately characterize the full body of work at the museum," Hartig said. "There is always room for improvement, but I also know the beauty and the inspiration and the expertise that lies in our collections, our exhibits, and our programming."

Asked about the report, a spokesperson for the Smithsonian told ABC News on July 5 that the institution remains committed to impartial learning.

"For more than 180 years, the Smithsonian has served the American public with nonpartisan and independent scholarship, and we remain committed to doing so," the spokesperson said.

Hartig's testimony this week marks the first time that a top leader at the Smithsonian gets grilled publicly by Congress after President Donald Trump targeted the institution in his March 27, 2025 executive order, "Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History."

The executive order directed Vice President J.D. Vance, in consultation with the president's advisers on domestic policy, "to remove improper ideology" from Smithsonian institutions, arguing that materials that cast America in a "negative light" have no place in federal cultural institutions.

The White House last year launched an investigation into the Smithsonian, which oversees 21 museums, galleries and the national zoo, and released the July 4 report targeting the American history museum as part of t