Eleven Days After the Interior Secretary Tells the Smithsonian That Federal Agencies "Cannot in Good Conscience Continue to Support" It "Under Current Leadership," Its First Black Secretary Announces He Is Retiring — Lonnie Bunch Says "It Has Been Stressful," Padilla Says He "Spoke Truth to Power," and the Republican Regent Looks Forward to a Successor Who Will "Preserve America's History"
On Tuesday, September 8, 2026, Lonnie G. Bunch III announced that he will retire as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution by the end of the year. Bunch, 73, has spent 38 years at the Smithsonian, was the founding director of the National Museum of African American History and Culture, and in 2019 became the first African American and the first historian to hold the institution's top job. "It is with very mixed emotions and heartfelt gratitude that I announce my retirement," he said in the Smithsonian's release. Chief Justice John Roberts, who chairs the Board of Regents as the Smithsonian's chancellor, said Bunch "has pursued excellence in the telling of our nation's story" and that the Regents would work with him "to ensure a smooth transition for his successor." The announcement lands after eighteen months of escalating pressure from the Trump administration. A March 2025 executive order directed Vice President JD Vance, himself a Regent, to remove "improper, divisive, or anti-American ideology" from the Smithsonian's museums. In August 2025 the president posted that the institution was "OUT OF CONTROL." On July 4, 2026, the White House Domestic Policy Council issued a 162-page report on the National Museum of American History concluding that the museum "under its current leadership and current interpretive ideology, cannot be trusted to tell America's story honestly," and three weeks later the president ordered "warning signs" posted on the sidewalks outside it. Then on August 28, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Domestic Policy Council Director Vince Haley wrote to the Regents that executive departments and agencies "cannot in good conscience continue to support the Smithsonian under current leadership by, for example, loaning artifacts for exhibits, enabling procurement processes and making discretionary grants," alleged that the institution's culture "may have resulted in significant violations of Federal antidiscrimination law," and asked for an in-person meeting with the board. Bunch told The New York Times that the fights with the administration were not the reason — "now's the time" — but conceded that "it has been stressful. And at a certain point, I'd like to wake up in the morning and not look at my cellphone." He told The Washington Post he had been weighing retirement for about a year. The White House did not immediately comment, and House Administration Chair Bryan Steil, whose committee oversees the Smithsonian, issued no statement. Democrats did: Sen. Alex Padilla said Bunch "spoke truth to power" in the face of the president's attacks and that "the job now falls to the Board of Regents and Congress" to protect his work; Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto, a Regent, called him "a student of history who has devoted his life to telling America's full history"; Rep. Chellie Pingree, the top Democrat on the appropriations panel that funds the Smithsonian, said he had steered the institution "through a period of unprecedented political interference"; and Rep. Terri Sewell praised "his commitment to telling the full, honest story of our nation." The one Republican Regent to comment, Rep. Carlos Giménez, said he looked forward to a search for "a new Secretary who will preserve America's history and master the art of storytelling for generations to come." The Regents — the Chief Justice, the Vice President, three senators, three representatives and nine citizen members — will choose Bunch's successor.
“So, I'm asking for the Smithsonian to install the 11-foot Washington statue that was featured at the recent Freedom 250 Grand Prix Race in the Museum's Flag Hall, and dedicate it this Constitution Day, September 17, 2026. Immediately design and display a five-year exhibition worthy of the Life, Sacrifice, and Contributions of George Washington. Then, as soon as it is ready, install a 30-foot Washington Colossus where "Infinity" stands today. Replace a sculpture that says nothing about America with the man who, more than anyone else, says everything about America.”