Overview

• On May 30, President Trump announced via Truth Social that he was terminating Kim Sajet as director of the National Portrait Gallery, criticizing her support for diversity, equity and inclusion.
• Sajet has refused to leave her post and continues to report for work, creating an unprecedented standoff over the president’s power to remove Smithsonian leadership.
• Legal experts and historians say it is unclear whether the president possesses the authority to dismiss a Smithsonian director, underscoring questions about the institution’s independence.
• Smithsonian Secretary Lonnie G. Bunch III and senior officials are preparing a formal response that could shape future governance and public funding for the museum complex.
• Cultural figures and former colleagues have rallied behind Sajet, portraying the dispute as part of a broader political effort to curb diversity and inclusion initiatives in national cultural institutions.