Smithsonian Institution to put up a Latino museum, bypassing US Congress approval

WASHINGTON - The Smithsonian Institution approved on Monday the conversion of one of its buildings into the National Museum of the American Latino, which will enable it to bypass congressional approval for a new site.

"Today, the Smithsonian Board of Regents designated the Arts and Industries Building as the permanent site of the National Museum of the American Latino," the Smithsonian said in a statement.

The board voted to house the museum in the Arts and Industries Building owned by the Smithsonian instead of building it on a site owned by the National Park Service that would require approval from Congress where President Donald Trump's Republican Party holds a majority.

Congress authorized the museum in December 2020. It opened a temporary space at the National Museum of American History in 2022.

The Trump administration has repeatedly attacked the Smithsonian, which historians and civil rights advocates say risks undermining the acknowledgement of critical phases of U.S. history.

Trump's executive budget this year stripped out funding for a Latino museum in favor of creating a decentralized Smithsonian Latino Center that would present exhibitions across some museums, The New York Times reported.

The newspaper reported raising money to retrofit the Arts and Industries Building for the Latino museum remains a hurdle for the project expected to cost $1 billion.

The Smithsonian is a vast museum and research complex and a premier exhibition space for U.S. history and culture.

-Reporting by Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Christian Schmollinger/Reuters