The House’s decision halts a bipartisan effort to locate a national women’s museum on the Mall, while underscoring an escalating partisan dispute over transgender inclusion and presidential control of cultural sites.
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The measure, originally introduced with broad bipartisan support, aimed to authorize the Smithsonian American Women’s History Museum on the National Mall. Republican leaders rewrote the bill in committee, inserting language that restricts the museum to “biological women” and expressly forbids any depiction of a “biological male as a female.” The revised language also grants President Donald Trump the authority to designate an alternative site for the museum within 180 days of enactment.
Rep. Teresa Leger Fernandez, chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, blasted the amendment, saying, “It was a simple bill. You kind of ruined it with your trans obsession and your culture wars.” She argued that the changes turned a unifying cultural project into a partisan culture‑war flashpoint.
Republican Rep. Nicole Malliotakis, the bill’s chief sponsor, defended the revisions, stating, “Perhaps the party that is opposing a women’s history museum on the National Mall because they want to have transgender exhibits — maybe they are the ones who are trans obsessed.” She framed the amendment as a safeguard against what she described as a “trans‑obsessed” agenda.
A handful of GOP members, including Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, voted against the measure, citing concerns that the legislation isolates specific groups. “We say we need to unite this country, but then we isolate every group,” Burchett said.
The final tally—204 votes to reject the bill and 216 to support it—reflects deep divisions in Congress over cultural policy, transgender rights, and presidential influence. Democratic leaders warned that allowing the President to control the museum’s location “gives one man undue control over a museum about women.” The defeat leaves the future of the museum uncertain, despite the original 2020 legislation that authorized its creation during the Trump administration.