Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie Bunch III will retire at the end of the year after seven years leading the institution.
Bunch announced the departure Tuesday, telling the Washington Post that the Trump administration’s sustained pressure on the Smithsonian played no role in his decision. He described himself as still “ready to do battle” for the institution’s independence. He also told the Post the job has been “stressful” and that he would like to stop reaching for his phone first thing every morning.
The timing is hard to separate from events. In March 2025, President Trump signed an executive order titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History,” directing that the nation’s museums serve as places for learning rather than vehicles for a single ideological viewpoint. That summer, the White House ordered a full review of the Smithsonian ahead of the America 250 celebrations.
Special offer for our readers:
Put Interest On Ice With These Top Credit Cards
As originally reported, the White House Domestic Policy Council released a 162-page report on July 4 detailing what it described as ideological capture at the National Museum of American History. The criticism extended beyond partisan lines. Historians and Black conservatives also publicly faulted the museum’s approach to American history as more activist than scholarly. A congressional hearing followed.
Bunch’s professional record is substantial. He founded the National Museum of African American History and Culture and became the Smithsonian’s first Black secretary. Seven years is a long tenure by any measure, and leaders of major institutions leave for personal reasons all the time.
But personal reasons and political pressure are not mutually exclusive. A year of organized institutional scrutiny, public criticism, congressional hearings, and a White House review is the kind of environment that makes any job feel exhausting. Bunch does not have to be departing solely because of the administration for the administration to be a contributing factor.
What follows is the question with the most weight. Trump does not have the authority to appoint the next Smithsonian secretary. That power rests with the 17-member Board of Regents. However, Vice President JD Vance sits on that board, which currently holds two vacancies. The composition of that board will shape who leads the institution next.
Bunch’s retirement does not end the debate over how the Smithsonian presents American history. It opens the next chapter of it. The secretary who guided the institution through a period of intense political scrutiny is stepping aside, and the people pushing for a different direction now have a direct hand in choosing his replacement.
The lever exists. It is being watched closely.
