A House Democrat likened the White House’s investigation into the Smithsonian Institution’s alleged left-wing rewriting of American history to an Orwellian takeover by a “fascist” government.Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) attacked President Donald Trump’s executive order to “restore truth” to the Smithsonian’s telling of American history at its National Museum of American History during a GOP-led hearing on Wednesday discussing the museum’s “radical revisionism.”“This administration’s crusade to take control of the American History Museum, I think, is not only dangerous, it’s perilous,” Sewell said.
The House Administration Committee hearing followed the publication of a White House report on the “ideological capture” of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History, which found that various exhibits at the museum retold key aspects of U.S. history through a liberal lens.“What they are really doing is trying to control thought, free speech,” Dr. David Blight, the Democrats’ witness, said of the Trump administration’s oversight efforts.“That sounds reminiscent of fascism,” Sewell said.
U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell (D-AL) speaks outside the Alabama state house during a special session of the Alabama Legislature, Tuesday, May 5, 2026, in Montgomer. (Mike Stewart/AP Photo)
