Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian Institution’s secretary who steered the organization through years of controversy over its exhibits, has resigned, the institution announced Tuesday. He will leave his post by the end of the year, according to the resignation announcement.
Bunch, 63, has been with the Smithsonian for nearly 38 years and served as secretary since 2019. Before that, he founded the National Museum of African American History and Culture. His tenure saw the Smithsonian expand its focus on racial and gender issues, a direction that drew sharp criticism from conservative commentators and lawmakers who accused the institution of abandoning its educational mission for ideological advocacy.
Chief Justice John Roberts, who serves as chancellor of the Smithsonian by law, praised Bunch in a statement: “Secretary Bunch has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation’s story. The Regents, and the Smithsonian, have benefited greatly from his wisdom, vision and leadership.”
The resignation comes as the Smithsonian has been under renewed scrutiny from Republican lawmakers and conservative media outlets, including The Federalist, which has chronicled what it describes as the institution’s “leftward degradation.” Critics point to specific exhibits and programs they say undermine American history and promote a negative view of the nation.
Critics Point to ‘Anti-American’ Exhibits
The National Museum of American History’s director, Anthea Hartig, has been cited for using land acknowledgments that claim the United States sits on stolen land from American Indian tribes. A video produced by the museum, titled “The Indian Problem,” asserts that the U.S. government committed genocide against American Indians. Another exhibit description referred to American expansion as the “profound unsettling of the continent.”
Conservative scholar John Fonte wrote in The Federalist that Bunch and Hartig “consistently claim that they are presenting a nuanced, neutral, unbiased narrative of America’s story,” but in practice they use the “crude weaponized concept” of “stolen land” to “‘problematize’ our founding” and “de-legitimize historic America.”
The Smithsonian has also partnered with the Zinn Education Project (ZEP), a group known for its revisionist approach to American history. ZEP promotes the abolition of Columbus Day and has developed curricula that critics say distort the American Founding, the Civil War, and World War II, while demonizing anti-communist efforts and downplaying the role of communism in American labor and civil rights movements.
At the National Museum of African Art, an exhibit reportedly juxtaposed George Floyd with communist revolutionary Che Guevara in a manner that some viewed as equating them with religious figures. The Museum of Natural History featured a display on how cell phone footage can spark protests for social justice, referencing the Floyd case. The Museum of Asian Art hosted an exhibit “confront[ing] notions of gender and cultural identity through photography” to explore “representations of power, place, and sexuality.”
Post-Bunch Future: Restoration or Continuity?
Bunch’s resignation arrives as the Trump administration has begun pushing to revitalize the Smithsonian, aiming to restore it to its founding mission: “an establishment for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” That effort has included congressional hearings where critics have testified about the institution’s direction.
Matthew Spalding of Hillsdale College told Congress earlier this year that Smithsonian bureaucrats had “killed America’s story.” He argued for a patriotic education that is “strong enough and unsentimental enough to coexist with criticism, dissent, disappointment, and opposition.”
“A healthy attachment to this country is neither blind to its flaws nor fanatical in believing that America is the source of all good,” Spalding said. “Nevertheless, each generation should be equipped with a knowledge of America’s principles and history, a reverence for their liberties, and a reflective love of their country.”
The Smithsonian’s board of regents has yet to announce who will succeed Bunch or when a new secretary will be appointed. The departure clears the way for a potentially contentious selection process as the institution navigates its future direction.
Source: thefederalist.com — https://thefederalist.com/2026/09/08/smithsonian-leader-behind-leftward-degradation-resigns/