By SUZANNE DOWNING
Aug. 8, 2026 – Sen. Lisa Murkowski, fresh off an unsuccessful attempt to block Todd Blanche from becoming attorney general, has opened another front against President Donald Trump, this time over his effort to confront what the White House calls the ideological capture of the Smithsonian Institution.
The Alaska Republican joined Democratic Sen. Jeff Merkley of Oregon in sending a letter to Interior Secretary Doug Burgum questioning Trump’s directive to place temporary signs and exhibits outside the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History.
Murkowski chairs the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies, while Merkley is its ranking Democrat. The subcommittee oversees funding for both the Interior Department and the Smithsonian.
“As Chair and Ranking Member of the Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, we write to express our concern and to request more information regarding the role the Department of the Interior will have in implementing Executive Order 14416, ‘Restoring Trust in the Smithsonian Institution,’” the senators wrote.
The letter amounts to another Murkowski split with Trump and many of her Republican colleagues, who have argued that the Smithsonian has used taxpayer dollars to advance left-wing political narratives instead of presenting American history with accuracy, balance and pride.
Murkowski and Merkley defended the institution.
“For the past 180 years, the Smithsonian Institution has been committed to sharing objective historical evidence through research and education, not political narratives,” they wrote. “The Smithsonian Institution has worked tirelessly to present a comprehensive narrative of our nation’s amazing history, from its many triumphs to its trials. There is nothing more American than telling our story truthfully.”
That assertion puts Murkowski at odds with the central finding of a recent White House review, which concluded that the Smithsonian’s leadership has treated American history as a tool for promoting social justice and transforming society.
Trump signed Executive Order 14416 on July 24. The order followed a Domestic Policy Council review titled, “Saving America’s Story: How Ideological Capture at the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of American History Erases Our Heritage.”
The report accused the museum of emphasizing division, grievance and political activism while giving insufficient attention to the nation’s founders, achievements and shared heritage, particularly as the United States celebrates its 250th anniversary.
Trump’s order directs Burgum, working through the National Park Service, to place temporary signs along federally maintained sidewalks and walkways leading to the museum. The signs are to inform visitors about the White House report, advise that museum exhibits should be renovated and direct the public toward what the administration describes as accurate information about American history.
The order also calls for temporary exhibits or signs correcting inaccurate information inside the museum, including material relating to the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence.
Murkowski and Merkley are asking whether there is precedent for the federal government to place “conflicting information” near another institution, who will write and approve the signs, how many will be installed, where they will be placed and how large they will be.
They also want the Interior Department to disclose the anticipated cost, source of funding, installation schedule and how long the supposedly temporary signs and exhibits will remain in place.
The senators’ letter focuses largely on oversight, spending and implementation questions. But its broad defense of the Smithsonian’s historical presentations goes further, appearing to reject the administration’s underlying conclusion that the museum has become politically compromised.
The Smithsonian receives roughly $1 billion a year in congressional appropriations, making its operations and exhibits a legitimate matter of oversight for Congress and the administration.
Murkowski’s latest challenge to Trump comes as she faces renewed criticism from Alaska Republicans over her opposition to Blanche.
The Senate confirmed Blanche early Saturday morning by a 50-49 vote. Murkowski and Maine Sen. Susan Collins joined every voting Democrat in opposing the nomination. Blanche was confirmed without their support and is now the 88th attorney general of the United States.
Just hours after Murkowski’s effort to stop Trump’s choice for attorney general fell short, her Smithsonian dispute offered another example of Alaska’s senior senator siding with a Democrat to challenge the Republican administration.
The full Murkowski-Merkley letter asks Burgum to respond to the senators’ questions about the Smithsonian directive and its cost to taxpayers.
19 thoughts on “Fresh off her failed Blanche opposition, Murkowski takes on Trump over Smithsonian woke trends”
What a moron, Murcowski. She has been a dIMOCRAP since she wus born. She’s got the worse case of TDS.. Go away!!
We’ve told our sick daughter to quit appeasing the Democrats and start focusing on 2028. She rarely listens to me. I told her if RCV is repealed this fall she has no hope of winning the 2028 Republican primary, and thus our Murkowski dynasty will be terminated. All she had in response was “does that mean I have to kiss Mike Dunleavy’s ass to keep my job?”
And now you know why I spent so much money on her Bar Exams.
Lisa isn’t aging well. It’s a trait in the Murkowski lineage. I told her to use callogen to fill in those deep wrinkles. But do you think she listens to her 95 year old mom? Lisa is just as dense as ever. I really can’t wait for 2028 when Mike Dunleavy gets his way with her. A real man needs to straighten her out before she reaches purgatory. It certainly won’t be House Husband. He’s such a wuss. And Frankie is too busy counting his triple pensions thinking he can take it all with him. The Murkowskis need more psychotherapy than the Fockers.
The Fockers are movie actors, Nancy. The Murkowskis are the real deal, all psychos. That’s why I keep my own last name. No hypens.
Nice!! Vern beat the system better than any other married man I know. Still a Hawaiian shirt and sandals- wearing playboy at 70+ yo. His old Anchorage noodle stand be damned. Got a nice recreational villa in Mexico too. The only negatives are, he has to pay homage to Frankie on a regular basis, and he is banned from all Trump golf courses.
Once Again(!!!), Lisa just can’t summon the strength – fortitude to do the right thing and support the ”Logic – Reason Common Sense” that Trump brings to the forefront. Her TDS is so entrenched that it completely blinds her senses and completely numbs her brain and soul.
The best scenario is for her to “go out” like Uncle Ted did. Lake Clark Pass seems like a fitting memorial location. Until then, we have no other choice but to ride // milk this sorry cow and air-thief, trying maintain our sanity and ignore the smell … hopefully we give Kelly-T another chance at the golden ring.
The Wicked Witch of the North’s war on Trump is really going well, huh? She’s really showing him!
merkley and murkowski – two mentally ill woke demoncats – get rid of skank choice voting in November to ensure the dirt bag libs in Alaska are unable to get her reelected in 2028.
Has lying Lisa* had a head injury or suffering from latent retardation?
*Remember how she lied about supporting the primary winner vs Joe Miller in 2010?
Talk about a severe case of TDS!!!!! Try some ivermectin.
No one with any integrity would support dismantling the Smithsonian.
You are totally correct Singh, which is what the woke liberal, communist scum were trying to do. Now that their subversion of the Smithsonian is out in the open, hopefully the Trump administration can put a stop to it. As usual Murkowski is on the wrong side of the issue.
Alright J B, how about offering readers two examples of what “woke liberal, communist scum” did at the Smithsonian.
1. Applied for work.
2. Got work.
The woke, liberal communist scum running the Smithsonian: Flew the “Intersex-inclusive Progress Pride flag at the entrance to the National Museum of American History, where they actually had an LGBTQ+ history exhibit. Their Benjamin Franklin exhibit focused almost solely on slavery. Their 50th anniversary of Title IX exhibit includes biological men competing in women’s sports. They produced an infographic in 2020 that described aspects of “whiteness” as “hard work”, “rugged individualism”, and “the nuclear family”. They actually MEANT to describe those traits as bad. That’s not “woke”? Donald J. Trump is your president!
She see the writing on the wall as far as her chances of reelection are concerned, so she has decided to take off the mask and let all the crazy hang out. Good for her, it must have been so draining, half hiding hiding her true nature for so long. Surprised she hasn’t come out in full support of Peltola yet, I guess there’s still time.
Murkowski has a severe case of Pelosiitus, commonly known as “Hollywood dementia”.
Alaska’s own Rosie O’Donnell
Example of ” woke” at the Smithsonian was the infamous narrative,posted at the Ebola Gay in the Air and Space museum, where they portrayed the use of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima case an act motivated by racism. It left out the context of it happening in a,war started by Japan, where the Empire of Japan regularly committed atrocities and war crimes against both civilians and combatants. And was completely unwilling to surrender despite overwhelming forces arrayed against them