Smithsonian Institution Museums: Selected Issues for Congress (CRS Report for Congress)
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| Release Date |
Revised Sept. 12, 2024 |
| Report Number |
R44370 |
| Report Type |
Report |
| Authors |
R. Eric Petersen, Specialist in American National Government |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
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Summary:
The Smithsonian Institution (SI) is a complex of museum, education, research, and revenuegenerating
entities primarily located in the Washington, DC, region, with additional facilities and
activities across the United States and world, that reportedly employs 6,500 staff, supplemented
by 6,300 volunteers.In fiscal year (FY) 2015, SI’s museums and zoo, which are open to the
public largely without admission fee, were visited 28.2 million times, while its websites were
accessed 116.6 million times.
Congress created SI in 1846, after it agreed to accept the bequest of James Smithson, an English
scientist who left the bulk of his estate to the United States of America to found at Washington an
establishment bearing his name. Governmental but organizationally separate and distinct from the
legislative, executive, or judicial branches of the U.S. government, SI is overseen by a Board of
Regents (Regents), composed of the Chief Justice, Vice President, Members of the House and
Senate, and private citizens. The Regents are authorized by Congress to carry out a number of
activities, and oversee certain SI entities established or authorized by Congress. Congress
provides to SI an annual appropriation—in FY2016, this was approximately $696 million—and
provides oversight of SI activities. In addition to carrying out authorities granted by Congress, it
appears that SI acts pursuant to its role as trustee of the Smithson and other bequests and gifts to
create additional entities to further SI missions.
This report provides an overview of SI organization and leadership roles, and entities created by
Congress as well as those created by SI. It also provides background information on consideration
of an SI museum in London, and Smithsonian related legislation introduced in the 114th Congress.
