Bill to build Smithsonian women’s museum fails in US congress amid disputes over Trump and trans rights

On 21 May, the US House of Representatives voted 216 to 204 to strike down a bill to build the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall in Washington, DC, after last-minute language changes created a partisan deadlock. The edits included directing the museum to include only “biological women,” banning “diversity,” and allowing President Donald Trump to override the museum’s location on the Mall. Democratic Women’s Caucus chair Teresa Leger Fernandez said Republicans had “ruined it with your trans obsession and your culture wars,” while House Speaker Mike Johnson argued Democrats were demanding inclusion of “biological men.” The museum had been authorized by Congress and signed by Trump in 2020 after two decades of efforts, and the bill’s defeat now puts its future in jeopardy.

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