All Smithsonian institutions close as the government shutdown nears its third week
The National Zoo, 21 museums, and 14 research and education centers are shut until further notice.
As the government shutdown rolled into its 12th day over the weekend, staff at Smithsonian institutions were putting out signs and notice boards that would likely mar the weekends of many thousands of unwitting tourists across New York and DC, informing visitors that all locations would be closed until further notice.
As the top banner on the Smithsonian Institution’s website now reads:
“Due to the government shutdown, Smithsonian museums, research centers, and the National Zoo are temporarily closed. Please check back for reopening updates.”
The Institution, which gets about 62% of its funding from Congress and federal grants and contracts, had managed to keep attractions like the National Zoo, the National Museum of Natural History, and the National Air and Space Museum open since the shutdown began using money left over from previous years.
Besides the shutdown, the world’s biggest museum, education, and research complex had already been having a bit of a rough year, having found itself in the sights of the government that funds it, with President Donald Trump criticizing curation at Smithsonian museums, its leadership, and general operations in recent months.
Depending on how long the funding gap stretches on, attendance figures for 2025 are likely to end up taking a not inconsiderable hit. However, footfall at some of the biggest Smithsonian properties has already been gently trending down for years — a pattern accelerated by the pandemic, with visitor numbers for some of America’s most iconic museums considerably lower in the last three years than they were in the mid-2000s.
