Protecting Our History Act of 2026

(a) Exclusive curatorial authority. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the NMAAHC shall retain exclusive authority over its scholarly, curatorial, research, and exhibition activities. No officer or employee of the United States shall direct, require, or prohibit the content of NMAAHC exhibitions, educational programming, curatorial decisions, or research findings.

(b) Limitation on Federal oversight. Federal oversight of the NMAAHC shall not extend to editorial, curatorial, or scholarly judgments, except where necessary to address violations of Federal law unrelated to content.

(c) Board of Regents governance obligations. The Board of Regents shall—

(1) implement written policies, consistent with the Council’s mission fiduciary authority under section 204, safeguarding NMAAHC directors, scholars, and curators from retaliation, coercion, or interference based on the substance of historical or scientific work;

(2) defend, from NMAAHC institutional resources and Smithsonian general funds as appropriate, against any executive action seeking to alter, restrict, or condition NMAAHC programming or appropriations in violation of this Act; and

(3) transmit to the NMAAHC Council, within 5 business days of receipt, any communication from the executive branch that purports to direct, restrict, or condition NMAAHC content, programming, or appropriations.