{"id":665594,"date":"2026-09-09T15:33:43","date_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=665594"},"modified":"2026-09-09T15:33:43","modified_gmt":"2026-09-09T15:33:43","slug":"smithsonian-chief-heads-for-the-exit-after-months-of-white-house-warfare-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/?p=665594","title":{"rendered":"Smithsonian chief heads for the exit after months of White House warfare"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Amid concerns about potential \u201csignificant violations of \u2026 antidiscrimination law,\u201d a shakeup at a federal institution is coming with the announced retirement of its secretary.<\/p>\n

Despite his best efforts, undoing the pervasiveness of the woke mind virus will take more than the world\u2019s richest man\u2019s free speech absolutism. On the government front, President Donald Trump\u2019s mission to purge leftist bias at national museums led to a statement from Smithsonian Institution Secretary Lonnie Bunch III regarding his departure before the end of the year.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement from the Smithsonian,\u201d read a statement<\/a> from the man named secretary in 2019.\u00a0\u201cI have spent nearly half of my life working at and being part of the Smithsonian family, and what a privilege it has been. There is no place like the Smithsonian\u2013it has been one of the great loves of my life, and I am extraordinarily proud of what we have accomplished together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Having initially joined the Smithsonian in 1978, Bunch went on, \u201cI leave with pride and sadness, gratitude and joy, and with enormous confidence in the people who will carry this remarkable institution forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

While he went on to assert his next chapter would allow him to \u201ccontinue to project the integrity of the Smithsonian,\u201d the bold claim appeared to contradict allegations facing the institution.<\/p>\n

On August 28, Department of Interior Secretary Doug Burgum penned a letter<\/a> to the board alleging evidence \u201cthat the Smithsonian leadership\u2019s institutional culture may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law, including creating a hostile work environment and engaging in practices that classify individuals and allocate opportunities, funding and other benefits on the basis of race, ethnicity and other protected characteristics.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is also concerning that the Smithsonian leadership\u2019s culture of ideological activism has not only corrupted the Institution but has spread across the country and corrupted the American Alliance for Museums\u2013the primary organization and accrediting body for the museum profession\u2013among others,\u201d added Burgum.<\/p>\n

Amid the president\u2019s initiative to restore trust in the institution<\/a>, it was previously reported that Texas Rep. Brandon Gill (R) challenged the Smithsonian\u2019s National Museum of American History Director Anthea Hartig over the Smithsonian\u2019s MASS (Museums as a Site for Social) Action Toolkit, which deemed things like objectivity and politeness as defining characteristics of white supremacy.<\/p>\n

During the same hearing, Hartig was made to answer for the museum\u2019s branding of Mickey Mouse as \u201cracist.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n

Congress grills Smithsonian on why it branded Mickey Mouse \u2018racist\u2019 https:\/\/t.co\/TGAf9pw6a4<\/a> via @BIZPACReview<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 BPR (@BIZPACReview) July 22, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Meanwhile, frequently positioned at odds with Trump,\u00a0Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, chancellor of the Smithsonian\u2019s Board of Regents since 2005, offered nothing but glowing remarks for Bunch on his retirement.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom his days as a young curator at the National Air and Space and American History Museums through his tenure as the founding director of the African American History and Culture Museum and culminating in his distinguished service for the past seven years in the Smithsonian\u2019s top job, Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation\u2019s story,\u201d stated Roberts. \u201cThe Regents and the Smithsonian have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership. We look forward to working with him in the coming months to ensure a smooth transition for his successor.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amid concerns about potential \u201csignificant violations of \u2026 antidiscrimination law,\u201d a shakeup at a federal institution is coming with the announced retirement of its secretary. Despite his best efforts, undoing the pervasiveness of the woke mind virus will take more than the world\u2019s richest man\u2019s free speech absolutism. On the government front, President Donald Trump\u2019s… Continue reading Smithsonian chief heads for the exit after months of White House warfare<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":665587,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[20,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-665594","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economic-empowerment","category-national-security","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=665594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/665587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=665594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=665594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buglecall.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=665594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}