Women's History Museum bill stalls on Trump, transgender fightshttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/women-s-history-museum-bill-stalls-on-trump-transgender-fights/ar-AA1ZeKqO?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=ece51f9ab4d24a7bdaa822b5a06171de&ei=168 🔗 [Link: msn.com/en-us/news/politics/women-s-history-museum-bill-stalls-on-trump-transgender-fights/ar-AA1ZeKqO/]Maeve Sheehey (23 March 2026)
A once-bipartisan effort to create a Smithsonian women's history museum has fallen victim to familiar partisan fights over transgender inclusion and President Donald Trump's power.
Rep. Nicole Malliotakis (R-N.Y.), who is spearheading the effort to authorize a women's history museum on the National Mall, has pushed for House passage before the end of the week to coincide with Women's History Month. But Democrats on the Administration Committee pulled their support last week during a markup, after the legislation changed to exclude transgender women from the museum and give Trump some added say over its location.
"Because the Democrats now are pulling their support, we have to revisit strategy," Malliotakis told Bloomberg Government on Monday. Malliotakis said the bipartisan support broke down after Republicans added an amendment by Rep. Mary Miller (R-Ill.) to add that the museum cannot depict "biological males" as women.
"There was nothing wrong with Mary Miller's amendment to add clarifying language, and that should not have lost us the bipartisan support, but it appears that it has," Malliotakis said.
Democrats on the Administration Committee cited "ideological poison pills" in pulling their support for the bill, with ranking member Joe Morelle (D-N.Y.) saying it would give Trump undue influence over the museum's location and content.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chairman of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a statement that the museum should "highlight the experiences of all women, including transgender women."
