The United States government owns the Smithsonian Institution. Congress created it by statute in 1846 after accepting a private bequest from British scientist James Smithson, and it holds the land, buildings, and collections in perpetual public trust under a charter codified at 20 U.S.C. Chapter 3.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries Ownership sits with the federal government; day-to-day control sits with a hybrid board that answers mostly to Congress.
How the Trust Was Created
James Smithson, a British chemist who never set foot in the United States, left his entire estate to the country in his 1829 will “for the increase and diffusion of knowledge among men.” Congress authorized acceptance of the gift on July 1, 1836, and the funds — roughly $508,000 in gold sovereigns — reached the U.S. Treasury in 1838.2Smithsonian Institution Archives. Accepting Smithson’s Gift
Eight years of debate followed before Congress passed the organic act on August 10, 1846. That law constituted the President, Vice President, Chief Justice, and heads of executive departments as an “establishment” called the Smithsonian Institution, gave it perpetual succession, and directed that the original sum be invested in government securities with only the interest used for operations.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries The original principal, fixed by statute at $541,379.63, remains invested in Treasury securities today.
What Federal Ownership Actually Covers
The land beneath Smithsonian museums is federal property, “appropriated to the institution” by statute. Section 52 of the charter provides that once land is selected for a Smithsonian building, it belongs to the Institution, and a certified description of the site is admissible as evidence of its boundaries in court.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries The National Gallery of Art’s site on the National Mall is appropriated to the Smithsonian under a separate provision of the same chapter.
The collections are national assets. All laws protecting public property in Washington, D.C., apply to Smithsonian buildings, grounds, and holdings, and every dollar that flows into the Institution is deposited in the Treasury to the credit of the Smithsonian bequest and separately accounted for.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries
Who Runs It
Policy and operations fall to the Board of Regents, whose composition is set by 20 U.S.C. § 42:3Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 42 – Board of Regents; Members
- The Vice President of the United States
- The Chief Justice of the United States
- Three Senators, appointed by the President of the Senate
- Three Representatives, appointed by the Speaker of the House
- Nine citizen members, appointed by joint resolution of Congress, of whom two must reside in Washington, D.C., and no two of the remaining seven may be from the same state
Citizen members serve six-year terms, and vacancies are filled by joint resolution of Congress.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC 43 – Appointment of Regents; Terms of Office; Vacancies The Board elects one of its own as Chancellor. By unbroken tradition the Chief Justice fills that role, though the statute does not require it. The Board also appoints the Secretary of the Smithsonian, the chief executive who runs the operation.5Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries – Section 44
How It Is Funded
The Smithsonian runs on two separate revenue streams. Direct federal appropriations from Congress cover roughly two-thirds of the annual operating budget, paying primarily for facility maintenance, preservation of the national collections, and salaries for the Institution’s federal workforce. For fiscal year 2024, the federal appropriation exceeded $1 billion.6Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Fiscal Year 2024 Federal Budget Totals More Than $1 Billion
The remaining third comes from what the Smithsonian calls its Trust funds: interest from the original Smithson endowment, private donations, grants, membership fees, and revenue from museum shops and licensing. Trust funds generally support research, acquisitions, and exhibit development. The endowment principal can never be spent; only the interest is available.7Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 20 USC Chapter 3 – Smithsonian Institution, National Museums and Art Galleries – Section 54
Is the Smithsonian a Federal Agency?
Federal ownership does not make the Smithsonian a standard executive-branch agency, and this matters if you assume ordinary agency rules reach it. The D.C. Circuit ruled unanimously in 1997 that the Smithsonian is not an “agency” subject to the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act, because it does not administer federal statutes, prosecute offenses, or issue binding regulations, and its board is largely appointed by Congress rather than the executive.8Justia Law. Dong, Margaret v. Smithsonian Inst, No. 96-5303 You cannot file a FOIA request with the Smithsonian the way you can with the Department of the Interior or NASA. Presidential executive orders likewise do not automatically bind the Institution; they apply only if the Board of Regents adopts them or Congress extends them by statute.
The Smithsonian is treated as the government for other purposes. Personal injury claims fall under the Federal Tort Claims Act,9eCFR. Part 530 – Claims Against the Smithsonian Institution Including the National Gallery of Art, the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and courts have treated the Smithsonian as “the United States” for copyright infringement claims under 28 U.S.C. § 1498(b) and for contract disputes under the Tucker Act, routing those cases to the Court of Federal Claims.10United States Department of Justice. O’Rourke v. Smithsonian – Opposition
Oversight of the Public Trust
The 1846 organic act requires the Board of Regents to submit a report to Congress at each session covering the Institution’s operations, expenditures, and condition.11Smithsonian Institution Archives. An Act to Establish the Smithsonian Institution, 1846 Congress also controls the appropriations that fund roughly two-thirds of the budget, giving it substantial annual leverage.
The Smithsonian has its own Office of Inspector General, established under the Inspector General Act, which designates the Institution as a “designated Federal entity” subject to independent audit and investigation. The Inspector General audits both federal and trust expenditures, investigates fraud and waste, and reports directly to the Board of Regents and to Congress.12Smithsonian Institution. Nicole Angarella Accountability runs to Congress and to the governing board, not up the executive branch chain of command.