Smithsonian Pushes Back Against Trump’s Meddling in Defiant Statement

Since President Trump announced last month that he had fired the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery (NPG) director, Kim Sajet, for her supposed proclivity toward diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), the longtime museum leader has reportedly shown up for work anyway.

In a statement issued Monday, June 9, the Smithsonian Institution clarified that only its secretary, Lonnie G. Bunch, wields the authority to determine “personnel decisions” with supervision from its Board of Regents. Seventeen members, including Vice President JD Vance, conservative Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, and six congressional representatives and senators from both political parties, comprise the institution’s board.

Trump accused Sajet in a May 30 Truth Social post of being a “highly partisan person” and called her a”strong supporter of DEI.” The president claimed he was “hereby terminating [Sajet’s] employment” based on the recommendation of “many people.” No replacement has since been named. Though the Smithsonian outlined its firing protocol in its statement on Monday, the institution did not indicate whether Sajet’s position is safe.

“Since its inception, the Smithsonian has set out to be a nonpartisan institution,” the statement reads. “The Board of Regents is committed to ensuring that the Smithsonian is a beacon of scholarship free from political or partisan influence, and we recognize that our institution can and must do more to further these foundational values.”

Trump issued an executive order in March ordering the elimination of “improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology” and “race-centered ideology” from the Smithsonian Institution, prompting condemnation from dozens of congressional democrats who said the move imperiled its independence.

Sajet became the first woman to lead the NPG in 2013, overseeing a collection of 21,000 objects related to Americans who have made “significant contributions to the United States.” She told the Washington Post in 2015 that, during her early tenure, she attempted to make the museum more inclusive with measures like incorporating Spanish into communications, expanding the diversity of portrait subjects represented, and commissioning site-specific works examining race and gender.

Last month, US Representative Ayanna Pressley’s press secretary told Hyperallergic that Trump’s executive action was part of his pattern of “anti-Blackness on steroids.” Pressley led congressional Democrats in a missive sent to the Smithsonian condemning Trump’s executive order and requested that the Smithsonian conduct an internal investigation of how the order will impact the museum system.

Monday’s statement noted that, to reinforce the Smithsonian’s “nonpartisan stature,” the Board of Regents has directed Secretary Bunch to “articulate specific expectations to museum directors and staff regarding content.” Bunch is to report back to the board on “progress and any needed personnel changes based on success or lack thereof in making the needed changes,” the statement added, promising that the board will “continue its vigilant, independent oversight of the Smithsonian and its museums.”

Neither the Smithsonian nor the NPG has responded to Hyperallergic‘s requests for comment.