White House Proposes Smallest Smithsonian Budget in Years and Cutting Full-Time Staff by 6 Percent
The Trump administration proposed a fiscal year 2027 federal budget of $961.3 million for the Smithsonian Institution, an approximately 11% cut from the $1.08 billion Congress provided for fiscal 2026 and the lowest proposed level since at least 2020. The plan would reduce facilities spending by about 21%, from $152 million to $120 million, while allocating $841.3 million for salaries and operating expenses and $120 million for facilities and capital projects. It would also cut federally funded staffing by about 6%, from 4,047 full-time-equivalent positions in fiscal 2026 to 3,804 under the request, and reduce the salaries and expenses account by $87.2 million (from $928.5 million to $841.3 million). The proposal follows months of political scrutiny, including July congressional hearings in which National Museum of American History director Anthea M. Hartig defended the museum’s “fact-based” scholarship after a White House report accused Smithsonian programming of “extreme political activism,” and a subsequent directive ordering warning signs outside the museum about allegedly “inaccurate information.”
From This Briefing
This story was covered in Heritage Under Fire, Art Power Plays