Democrats Kill Women’s History Museum With Help Of 6 Republicans
House Democrats joined with six Republicans on Thursday to block legislation advancing the long-awaited Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum, tanking the bill after Republicans added language limiting the museum to celebrating biological women and barring exhibits portraying males as female.The measure failed on a 216-204 vote after every Democrat voted against it, joined by a small bloc of Republican defectors, halting what had previously been a bipartisan effort to establish the museum on the National Mall. The legislation was led by Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY).The collapse of the bill came after Democrats abandoned legislation many of them had previously supported, once Republicans amended it to explicitly define the museum around biological women.New language added by Republicans stated the museum would be dedicated to “preserving, researching, and presenting the history, achievements, and lived experiences of biological women in the United States,” while also prohibiting the museum from depicting “any biological male as a female.”Democrats immediately denounced the changes, arguing they excluded transgender-identifying individuals and handed too much authority over the museum to President Donald Trump. Republicans countered that a women’s history museum should, by definition, focus on women.“The addition of the word biological made them all run for the hills,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said Wednesday. “If that’s controversial in the Democratic Party, we’re in serious trouble.”Malliotakis similarly blasted Democrats for withdrawing support over the added language. “A women’s history museum is supposed to be dedicated to women, period,” Malliotakis told Fox News. “And the fact that they’re going to pull their support after overwhelmingly co-sponsoring this bill because the word biological was inserted, to me, is ludicrous.”Democrats insisted the issue extended beyond transgender inclusion. The revised legislation also gave Trump authority to select an alternative site for the museum on the National Mall and included language calling for “equal representation of the diversity of the political viewpoints and authentic experiences held by women in the United States.”Leaders of the Democratic Women’s Caucus accused Republicans of turning a bipartisan project into a political fight. “They amended the bill to give Trump and his allies unregulated power over what content and which women can be included in the museum, and the museum’s location,” caucus leaders said in a statement. “A museum about women, fought for and supported by women, should not be controlled by one man.”The Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum was initially authorized by Congress in 2020 alongside the planned National Museum of the American Latino, but construction has remained stalled pending congressional approval of a permanent site.House Republicans widely viewed Thursday’s vote as an opportunity to force Democrats into a politically uncomfortable position on gender after the party’s struggles during the 2024 election cycle over questions involving transgender-identifying athletes and definitions of “woman.”But Republicans also faced internal resistance from fiscal conservatives and lawmakers skeptical that another Smithsonian museum was necessary. Several GOP lawmakers reportedly objected that women were already represented across existing Smithsonian institutions and raised concerns that the institution could ultimately become a platform for left-wing causes rather than a celebration of women’s achievements throughout American history. A source familiar with Republican concerns told Fox that lawmakers feared the museum could evolve into “a shrine to abortion activists like Margaret Sanger or the latest progressive cause” without stronger guardrails written into the legislation.In the end, those Republican defections combined with unanimous Democratic opposition were enough to sink the legislation, leaving the future of the women’s history museum uncertain and construction plans once again stalled indefinitely.
