Sponsors (2)
The bill provides targeted historic park upgrades and promotes patriotic exhibits while imposing content controls and funding conditions that increase political oversight of federal museums and risk censoring or excluding minority and transgender histories.
Tourists, local governments, and taxpayers will get improved visitor facilities at Independence National Historical Park, with targeted funding intended to complete upgrades by July 4, 2026.
Museum visitors and families may experience increased national pride because federal museums and historic sites will emphasize patriotic themes in exhibits and programming.
Taxpayers could see limits on spending for exhibits some view as politically divisive because congressional conditions on Smithsonian appropriations restrict certain types of content.
Federal museum staff, curators, schools, and the public face increased risk of censorship and politicization because officials are empowered to remove or block exhibits under vague standards and appropriations are conditioned on content.
Racial and ethnic minority communities risk reduced visibility or distortion of their histories because directives targeting portrayals of race could lead to removal or alteration of materials related to minority experiences.
Transgender people—particularly transgender women—may be excluded from recognition in the American Women’s History Museum, reducing representation for transgender people in museum narratives.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Directs federal museums, parks, and the Smithsonian to promote uplifting, non-ideological accounts of U.S. history and directs the Vice President to seek removal and funding limits for exhibits deemed divisive.
Introduced July 22, 2025 by James E. Banks · Last progress July 22, 2025
Directs federal historic sites, parks, museums, and the Smithsonian to present uplifting, non-ideological accounts of American history and to avoid narratives the text describes as divisive or focused on systemic racial oppression. It contains findings asserting that some past exhibits and trainings have promoted race-centered reinterpretations of history and calls for corrective action. Requires the Vice President, using the Vice President’s seat on the Smithsonian Board of Regents, to seek removal of materials the legislation says violate this policy or federal civil rights law, and to recommend further steps to the President; it also directs coordination with the OMB Director and Congress to condition future Smithsonian funding to prevent spending on exhibits or programs deemed to degrade shared American values or divide Americans. The measure contains findings and policy directions but does not create new regulatory duties, appropriate funds, or amend existing law in the U.S. Code.