Seventy-one House Democrats are pressing the Smithsonian inspector general to investigate President Donald Trump's executive order targeting Smithsonian museums.
The letter states that implementation of the order interferes with the Smithsonian's capacity to "document American history and culture accurately."
"What's very clear in Donald Trump's second occupancy and this anti-freedom agenda — is to undermine the freedom to learn," said Rep. Ayanna Pressley, D-Mass., in an interview.
"They want a citizenry that's ignorant and uninformed. I want them to know that these abuses of power and the lawless acts of this administration cannot go unchecked," she said.
Trump in late March signed an executive order targeting what he describes as the spread of a "divisive, race-centered ideology" at museums.
He also placed Vice President JD Vance in charge of overseeing the changes to "restore the Smithsonian Institution to its rightful place as a symbol of inspiration and American greatness."
"The Smithsonian Institution has, in recent years, come under the influence of a divisive, race-centered ideology," Trump's executive order stated.