Protecting Our History Act of 2026

(a) Reaffirmation of congressional intent. Congress reaffirms the governance framework established in the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act and its legislative history, which created a dual-layer governance model for the NMAAHC such that—

(1) the Board of Regents retains institutional authority, including legal, financial, and administrative oversight of the Smithsonian Institution as a whole; and

(2) the NMAAHC Council holds subject matter authority over the museum’s interpretive, cultural, and scholarly direction, including collections, exhibitions, educational programming, curatorial frameworks, and the selection and evaluation of the museum’s director, and is expected to exercise that authority as a mission fiduciary of the Congress.

(b) Mission fiduciary designation

(1) In general. The NMAAHC Council is hereby designated a mission fiduciary of the United States with respect to the congressionally mandated purposes of the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.).

(2) Duties. In its capacity as mission fiduciary, the Council shall—

(A) safeguard the historical accuracy, scholarly rigor, and interpretive integrity of NMAAHC exhibitions, collections, and educational programs;

(B) ensure that the NMAAHC’s programming reflects African American leadership and community accountability consistent with the congressional mandate;

(C) monitor and report to Congress any attempt—internal or external—to improperly influence, restrict, alter, or direct the content, collections, or programs of the NMAAHC; and

(D) take such lawful action as is necessary and appropriate to protect the NMAAHC’s independence, including initiating civil enforcement proceedings under subsection (c).

(c) Express statutory standing and private right of action. The NMAAHC Council, acting through a majority vote of its members, is hereby granted express statutory standing to bring a civil action in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia against any Federal officer, agency, or instrumentality that—

(1) directs, requires, or prohibits the content of NMAAHC exhibitions, educational programming, curatorial decisions, or research findings in violation of this Act or the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.);

(2) withholds, restricts, impounds, or conditions Federal appropriations for the NMAAHC based on exhibit content or curatorial decisions, in violation of the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (2 U.S.C. 681 et seq.) or this Act;

(3) retaliates against NMAAHC directors, scholars, curators, archivists, researchers, or Council members for the substance of protected scholarly or curatorial activity; or

(4) otherwise frustrates the Council’s mission fiduciary duties as established by the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.) or this Act.

(d) Injury-in-Fact. For purposes of establishing standing under Article III of the Constitution, the frustration of the Council’s mission fiduciary duties under the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.) or this Act by any Federal officer or agency shall constitute a concrete and particularized injury in fact to the Council, distinct from the generalized interests of the public in accurate historical preservation.

(e) Remedies. In an action brought under subsection (c), the Court may award—

(1) declaratory relief establishing the unlawfulness of the challenged Federal action;

(2) preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, including orders requiring the restoration of withheld appropriations, the reinstatement of altered or removed exhibition content, or the cessation of executive interference;

(3) mandamus directing a Federal officer to perform a duty owed under this Act or the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.);

(4) attorney’s fees and costs pursuant to the Equal Access to Justice Act (5 U.S.C. 504; 28 U.S.C. 2412); and

(5) such other equitable relief as the Court deems appropriate.

(f) Presumption of irreparable harm. In any action brought under subsection (c), a showing by the Council that Federal action threatens the integrity, content, collections, programming, or funding of the NMAAHC shall create a rebuttable presumption of irreparable harm, and the Court shall weigh the balance of harms with full recognition that threatened loss of historically documented content represents injury to the public interest that cannot be adequately remedied by money damages.

(g) No limitation on other remedies. Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the rights of any employee, donor, contractor, or organizational partner of the NMAAHC to pursue claims available under any other provision of Federal law, including title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (42 U.S.C. 2000e et seq.), sections 1981, 1982, 1985, and 1986 of title 42, United States Code, or the Constitution of the United States.

(h) Relationship to Board of Regents. Nothing in this section shall be construed to diminish the authority of the Board of Regents under the National Museum of African American History and Culture Act (20 U.S.C. 80r et seq.) or any other provision of law. The Council’s standing under this section is supplementary to, and not in substitution for, any authority of the Board of Regents to bring claims on behalf of the Smithsonian Institution.