Alaska Republican Senator Breaks Ranks With GOP Over Smithsonian History Dispute

Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska has departed from her Republican colleagues in opposing the GOP’s recent campaign against the Smithsonian Institution’s historical curriculum. The moderate senator released a joint letter with Oregon Democrat Jeff Merkley seeking clarification from the Trump administration regarding a directive to erect “temporary signage” at the National Museum of American History, following the president’s claims that the institution presents biased and politically slanted accounts of American history.

In their correspondence to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum, Murkowski and Merkley stated their positions as chair and ranking member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee. They requested specifics on how the Department of the Interior plans to implement Executive Order 14416, titled “Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution,” which the president signed last month.

The Republican-led criticism of the Smithsonian, which receives approximately $1 billion annually in congressional funding, centers on exhibits that GOP members characterize as inherently political. However, Murkowski challenged this assertion in her bipartisan statement, noting that the institution has spent 180 years committing itself to presenting factual historical evidence through scholarly research and educational programs rather than partisan narratives.

Trump’s executive order instructed Burgum to use existing methods to “restore trust” at the institution, specifically authorizing the installation of “temporary exhibits or signage” on federal property adjacent to the museum that would correct what the administration deems inaccurate information presented inside.

Murkowski and Merkley are requesting the administration clarify whether federal land or appropriations have previously been used to display “conflicting information” opposing another entity’s operations, identify who is compiling the corrective materials, and provide cost and timeline estimates for the proposed signage.

Conservative lawmakers have highlighted specific exhibits as examples of the alleged bias, including one that characterized Disney’s “Steamboat Willie” as connected to “vestiges of long-standing traditions of blackface minstrelsy.” Some House Appropriations Committee Republicans have told media outlets they intend to pursue new restrictions on Smithsonian funding to compel changes to controversial displays or reduce the institution’s federal allocation.