The embattled Smithsonian Institution, a network of federally funded museums that has been repeatedly attacked by the Trump administration, said it intended to remain open for the time being, even as the government nears the possibility of a shutdown beginning at midnight.
“In the event of a federal government shutdown, the Smithsonian will use prior-year funds to remain open to the public at least through Monday, October 6, 2025,” the museum network said in a short statement issued on Tuesday evening, just hours before the shutdown was expected to go into effect.
ARTnews has reached out to the National Gallery of Art, which is not operated by the Smithsonian but which is in part operated by federal funding, for comment.
It was not immediately clear how, or whether, the Smithsonian would be impacted by layoffs that President Donald Trump hinted may happen during a shutdown. “When you shut it down you have to do layoffs, we’d be laying off a lot of people,” he said earlier today. According to the New York Times, hundreds of thousands of government workers may be furloughed during this shutdown.
This shutdown would be the result of differences between Democrats and Republicans over matters related to health care. Democrats are seeking to undo health care cuts made by Republicans, while Republicans have called on Democrats to accept their funding plan by mid-November.
During the last significant US government shutdown, in 2019, Smithsonian museums and the National Gallery both shuttered for extended periods. That shutdown, which took place under the first Trump administration, resulted in exhibitions being closed and Smithsonian employees going unpaid. The 2019 shutdown lasted 35 days, making it the longest government stoppage in US history.
If a shutdown goes into effect tonight, it could pose yet another impediment to Smithsonian operations. Earlier this year, Trump began targeting the Smithsonian’s museums, which he said had “come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology” in an executive order. Since then, his administration has repeatedly denounced these institutions’ offerings, even at one point issuing a bullet-pointed list of artworks officials seemed to disagree with. Those artworks dealt with topics such as migration and trans rights. His executive order preceded the resignation of Kim Sajet, the director of the Smithsonian-run National Portrait Gallery, whom he attempted to fire.
