A Republican congressman grilled the director of the National Museum of American History at a congressional hearing Wednesday, demanding to know why the museum removed the phrase "American history" from its mission statement.
Rep. Mike Carey, R-Ohio, directed his questions at Anthea Hartig, the museum's administrator, during a Committee on House Administration hearing. Carey told Hartig he wanted to understand a specific explanation she had given to students in 2024.
"You explained that the museum removed the phrase 'American history' from the mission statement in order to help people 'to get out of the America-first mentality,'" Carey said. "What did you mean by America-first?"
The question was drawn from a Trump administration report called Saving America's Story, which documented the mission statement change and named Hartig directly. According to Fox News, the report quoted Hartig from a 2024 presentation she gave to undergraduate and graduate history students.
"It's hard to get out of the 'America First' mentality ... It's just that, and why we changed our mission when I first came," Hartig said at that presentation. "I think it's a big challenge, especially going into 2026, which will be the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence, the 25th year since 9/11, the fifth year since January 6th."
At Wednesday's hearing, Hartig defended her record and rejected the characterization that she had used her position to promote activism. "The museum does not take sides in America's political debates. We preserve and document the evidence of American life in all its breadth, so that the public c," she told the committee, with the hearing transcript cutting off at that point.
The administration's report went further, saying Hartig has described history as a "prime tool of social justice" and stated that one of her roles is connecting "research and scholarship to activism and advocacy." Hartig has served as NMAH director since 2019.
The hearing fits into a broader pattern. Republicans in Congress have made the preservation of what they call American heritage a central issue during President Donald Trump's second term. The administration has placed heavy emphasis on celebrating the country's 250th anniversary and has used phrases like America First and Make America Great Again as organizing principles for how it wants history presented.
Conservative critics have pushed back against curricula and museum programs they see as framing U.S. history primarily through oppression or slavery, including the New York Times' 1619 Project. Many on the right argue that American founding ideals, as expressed in the Declaration of Independence, define the country's character more than its failures to live up to those ideals.
Hartig and other progressive historians have argued the opposite, that confronting difficult chapters of American history is essential to understanding the country's past and informing present policy. The dispute over the museum's mission statement has become a focal point for that larger disagreement.
No immediate action against Hartig or the museum was announced following Wednesday's hearing.
