Democratic Women’s Caucus Leaders Condemn Republican Attack on Women’s History Museum

Washington, March 18, 2026

WASHINGTON, D.C. —Today, March 18, 2026, the Committee of House Administration is marking up H.R. 1329, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Act. The bill, which would determine the location, content and other key details of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, has historically had strong bipartisan support. However, ahead of the markup, Republicans introduced a poison pill amendment that would take away the museum’s independence and give Trump the power to make key decisions on the museum. This amendment is unnecessary and seeks to destroy a years-long bipartisan effort and museum for the sake of President Trump’s ego—a deeply disappointing development, especially during Women’s History Month.

Democratic Co-Leads of the Smithsonian American Women’s History Act, Reps. Judy Chu (CA-28) and Debbie Dingell (MI-06) and Democratic Women’s Caucus Chair Teresa Leger Fernández (NM-03), released the following statement:

“From the beginning, the fight for the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum has been bipartisan and rooted in the shared belief that women’s history & women’s stories are integral to who we are as a nation. We, and women leaders before us, worked on a bipartisan basis to make sure that the Museum where these stories will be told is on the National Mall. The bill has 230 cosponsors and had a successful bipartisan hearing in the Natural Resources Committee where Members and panelists overwhelmingly supported the museum. Now, President Trump wants to change the bill to remove its independence, control what may be said about women, and give himself the power to determine where the museum is located. This is a poison pill amendment. A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man. We strongly oppose this partisan, dangerous, and hateful amendment. We urge our colleagues to honor the spirit of the museum by rejecting it.”

Background:

Despite women making up 51% of our population and Latinos 19%, neither group currently has a dedicated Smithsonian museum. For generations the stories of these two groups and their contributions to art, science, politics, and civil rights have been underrepresented or absent in historical narratives.

On December 27, 2020, under the leadership of Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, Congress passed the Consolidation Appropriations Act of 2021, which authorized the Museum of the American Latino and the American Women’s History Museum to exist as Smithsonian institutions with broad bipartisan support.

Since the passage of that bill, women in Congress have worked on a bipartisan basis to gather support for the legislation needed to determine the location and other critical details of the museum. H.R. 1329, the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum Act, is the bipartisan bill to accomplish those goals.

Rather than moving the bipartisan bill as is with over 200 cosponsors, Rep. Mary Miller (R-IL) and Republicans are pushing a poison pill partisan amendment in the Committee mark up. The amendment will destroy the bipartisan support for the bill and wreck the longstanding bipartisan work done. The amendment: 

  • Omits the National Museum of the American Latino, which has historically been considered in tandem with the Women’s Museum.

  • Adds a discriminatory provision intended to dictate what the museum can and cannot say about women’s history (i.e., language about “biological women”). 

  • Grants the President unilateral, unchecked authority to disregard the Smithsonian’s recommended site and pick his own.

  • Requires that the museum design/plans be approved by boards like the National Capital Planning Commission (NCPC) now stacked with Trump loyalists who have already shown they will rubber-stamp whatever the President wants, as we’ve seen with the desecration of the White House to build a ballroom.  

In addition to having more than 200 bipartisan cosponsors, the bill also had a successful bipartisan hearing in the House Committee on Natural Resources in February. During Women’s History Month and every month, the Democratic Women’s Caucus will keep fighting to tell women’s stories and push back against this attack.


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