Texas Republicans allege Smithsonian broke lobbying law on shuttle

Valerie Yurk, CQ-Roll Call on Oct 23, 2025

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WASHINGTON — Three Texas GOP lawmakers are alleging that the Smithsonian Institution illegally lobbied Congress to block the transfer of the space shuttle Discovery from a Virginia museum to Houston, home of NASA’s Mission Control, and called on the Justice Department to investigate.

Sens. John Cornyn and Ted Cruz along with Rep. Randy Weber alleged in a letter Wednesday to Attorney General Pamela Bondi that Smithsonian staff violated federal lobbying law by urging congressional Appropriations committees to use funding bills to block money for the transfer as well as circulating cost estimates that “exceed quotes from experienced private-sector logistics firms by more than tenfold.”

The 2025 reconciliation law included a provision authorizing the relocation of the shuttle from its current display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Va., to a site near Houston’s Johnson Space Center. The bill also provided $85 million for the move, at least $5 million of which would be used for transporting the shuttle.

The Texas lawmakers said Smithsonian staff approached the Senate Appropriations and Rules committees expressing opposition to the reconciliation law language and urging the House Appropriations Committee to include an amendment in the fiscal 2026 Interior-Environment and Commerce-Justice-Science spending bills to bar any money from the fiscal 2026 legislation for the relocation.

House appropriators in July adopted such an amendment from Rep. Joseph D. Morelle, D-N.Y., during the markup of the fiscal 2026 Interior-Environment funding bill, with Interior-Environment Appropriations Chairman Mike Simpson, R-Idaho, noting he supported it. The House hasn’t voted on the bill.

Although some communications between federal agencies and members of Congress are permitted, such as those pertaining to nonlegislative matters and public speeches, it prohibits “grassroots” lobbying that’s “intended or designed to influence … legislation or appropriations,” according to the Justice Department.

The Smithsonian on Thursday referred to a statement from earlier this month that it does not engage in “direct or grassroots lobbying” and that it “acted in accordance with all governing rules and regulations.”

“The Smithsonian Institution owns the Space Shuttle Orbiter Discovery and holds it and all of its collections in trust for the nation,” it said in the statement. “The Smithsonian has a unique responsibility to properly manage, preserve, and make accessible the collections in its care for current and future generations to appreciate, enjoy, and study. … The Smithsonian will carefully evaluate any request to move Discovery in light of these obligations.”

The Smithsonian declined to comment on what kind of discussions it had with members of Congress about Discovery.

The Smithsonian said in July that transporting the shuttle to Houston would cost about $50 million to $55 million, and that preparing the museum for moving the orbiter and constructing a permanent display facility elsewhere would cost about $325 million — much more than the $85 million provided.

The Texas lawmakers reject that estimate, saying that quotes from private-sector logistics firms put the cost more in line with the reconciliation bill.

They also said in the letter that they “question whether the Smithsonian is truly fulfilling its statutorily provided mission” to keep safe and maintain national treasures. They added that the exhibits “reflect a growing shift toward interpreting American history through the lens of grievance, rather than grounded historical scholarship.”

“These actions, combined with the Smithsonian’s nefarious lobbying efforts against President Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act, indicate the Institution has abandoned its core mission as a steward of national heritage and historical integrity, in favor of a politicized agenda that undermines its responsibilities as a federal government entity and possibly violates federal law,” they wrote.