Members of the U.S. DOGE Service met with National Gallery of Art leadership Thursday, museum and administration officials confirmed, signaling that cuts or other changes may be on the horizon for the Washington institution that makes classic artwork freely accessible to roughly 6 million visitors a year.
While DOGE is nominally a cost-cutting operation led by the billionaire Elon Musk, it has drafted detailed plans to purge employees and programs that it associates with diversity initiatives from the federal government. In recent years, the NGA has worked to diversify its art, holding its first exhibition of Native American artists in decades and adding works by Haitian artists to its permanent collection, among other work created by artists from marginalized communities.
The White House confirmed DOGE’s visit to the NGA but did not respond to questions about the subject of the meeting. The museum’s nine-member board of trustees and executive officers either referred questions to the museum or did not respond to requests for comment Saturday.
It was not immediately clear what authority DOGE or the White House might have over the NGA, which was created by an act of Congress. A similar separation of powers has not stopped the administration from attempting to dissolve or reshape congressionally established agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, and many of DOGE’s budget slashing efforts have been challenged in federal lawsuits.
The NGA is a public-private partnership that receives government funding for its upkeep, administrative expenses and operations, as outlined by the 1937 Act of Congress that established it. Most of the gallery’s jobs are also federally funded. In 2024, Congress appropriated $209 million to the museum.
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