While cutting art funding and grants has caused widespread anger in the art world, a lesser-known clause in President Donald Trump’s comprehensive tax and expenditure package (the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill”) would have a more direct impact on the National Air and Space Museum in Washington State, especially its Udvar-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy-Hazy Center.
The rule requires the Smithsonians to transfer “space vehicles” to NASA, a move widely understood to target the discovery of the shuttle, which was exhibited on the way at the Steven F. Udvar -Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia, since 2012. The action has been since 2012. The action requires that the move be designed to complete the January 4, 2027 move.
The move is the latest attempt by the Republican and Trump administration to decide on guidance from the Smithsonian Agency, a network of museums composed of numerous major institutions, mainly in Washington, D.C.
The provision entered the bill after Texas Senators John Cornyn and Ted Cruz introduced the “Bringing Shuttle Family Act” in April, aiming to transfer discoveries to the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The proposed bill fell into the committee, but its main provisions were folded into a larger settlement bill – the official titled “A Large Beautiful Act” (HR 1). Trump signed the bill into law on July 4.
In order to comply with the Senate settlement rules, the text refers only to the “space tool” selected by NASA administrators (not discovered by name). It allocated $85 million to the move, with $5 million of which is for planning and transportation, and the rest dedicated to building new exhibition facilities in Houston.
Smithsonian insisted that after a decision in 2011 to send the discovery to the Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian insisted that he had received “all rights, ownership, interest and ownership” from NASA in 2012 and had fully owned the discovery.
“It’s not a transfer, it’s a robbery, it’s a Texas robbery because they lost the game 12 years ago,” Democratic Senator Dick Durbin said at a hearing earlier this month.
The Smithsonians have been under fire for months since the Trump administration, which accused its museum of promoting “unproper ideology” with executive orders. The executive order picks out shows at the Smithsonian Museum of American Art and the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
In May, the government claimed to fire Kim Sajet, director of the National Portrait Gallery; the Smithsonian replied that it was independent, and that the personnel decision was authorized by the Smithsonian secretary and was supervised by the board of directors. Sajet continued to work before he initially resigned.
The bill also cuts Smithsonian’s funding by about 12% overall and eliminates dedicated funds for the long-term planned Latino National Museum of the United States, reducing its staff from about 35 to six. Meanwhile, the Anacostia Community Museum will be merged into the National Museum of African American History and Culture.
