Two Republican members of the House of Representatives are demanding records on how the Smithsonian Institution vets proposed exhibitions, after a museum display linked American-made munitions to the destruction of civilian homes. The letter to outgoing Smithsonian secretary Lonnie Bunch III comes from Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who chairs the subcommittee on government efficiency, and Brian Jack of Georgia.

The pair say the Smithsonian never answered a request made at a July hearing, where Anthea Hartig, director of the National Museum of American History, was pressed on the institution's direction. The Smithsonian has been a Republican target since the start of President Donald Trump's second term, when he issued an executive order aimed at it; in September the White House accused it of discrimination and threatened to cut federal grants.

Their focus is Patterns of Life, a commission by data journalist Mona Chalabi and the visual investigation practice SITU Research in Making Home - Smithsonian Design Triennial (2024-25) at New York's Cooper Hewitt. The work reflects on three people whose homes were destroyed by domicide, the widespread and systematic destruction of housing through war, development or upheaval, documenting homes struck by US-made weapons in Iraq in 2015, Syria in 2016 and Gaza in 2023. Models of the homes held heirlooms and toys, celebrating the intimate lives inside them. The display drew more than 2,600 complaints, and a June report by the Smithsonian's inspector general found gaps in the review process.

Burchett and Jack say the installation began as a proposal to show ten New York City buildings in one room and became a display of homes destroyed by American-made munitions in campaigns against ISIS and others, arguing the organisers wanted to tie American military doctrine and even the country's founding to domicide. The museum counters that the work also notes the US as the largest contributor to UN peacekeeping and the world's biggest arms producer. The lawmakers gave the Smithsonian until 11 November to hand over directives, a timeline for revising Directive 603, and access to six sets of archive records. Neither museum responded immediately to requests for comment.