Three U.S. lawmakers from Texas are accusing the Smithsonian Institution of engaging in “illegal lobbying” to block the retired space shuttle Discovery’s planned relocation to Houston.
In a letter sent to the U.S. Department of Justice on Wednesday, Senators Ted Cruz and John Cornyn and Representative Randy Weber said the Smithsonian should be investigated for allegedly lobbying U.S. House and Senate committee staff, which they said would be a violation of federal lobbying laws. The lawmakers also accused the organization of circulating inaccurate estimates of the relocation’s total cost and coordinating with members of the media to build public opposition to the transfer.
“Public reporting suggests the Smithsonian Institution has taken affirmative steps to oppose the passage and implementation of the shuttle’s relocation, as part of President [Donald] Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” the letter stated. “The Smithsonian has also approached the House Appropriations Committee to advocate for the inclusion of an amendment in the pending FY26 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act and the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act that would not allow funding designated for the shuttle’s relocation.”
These activities, if proven, could run afoul of the Anti-Lobbying Act, which prohibits the use of appropriated funds to influence the public or Congress, the lawmakers said.
The Smithsonian did not immediately reply to a request for comment from FLYING, but in earlier statements the organization said it does not engage in lobbying and “acted in accordance with all governing rules and regulations.”
Tug-of-War
Discovery, which flew its last mission in 2011, is currently housed at the Smithsonian-run National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in northern Virginia. A provision authored by Cornyn and inserted into the One Big Beautiful Bill Act last summer sets aside $85 million to move the spacecraft to NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston.
Cornyn maintains that the shuttle belongs in Texas because Houston has played a central role in the U.S. space program. But Virginia lawmakers, space enthusiasts, and preservationists say the transfer risks damaging the 42-year-old vehicle and could compromise its historical value. Some elected Democrats believe Trump is effectively making Discovery into a gift for his political allies in Texas.
The Smithsonian has not been quiet about its opposition to the relocation plan. In a message sent to Congress, the organization said it would be “unprecedented” for the federal government to remove an object from its collection and send it somewhere else.
“The space shuttle Discovery is not on loan to the Smithsonian from NASA,” the message read. “Ownership was transferred to the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.”
In July, before the Big Beautiful Bill was signed into law, National Air and Space Museum director Chris Browne told the Washington Business Journal that the museum maintains full ownership of the orbiter.
“Our position is that the Discovery is staying right where it is,” Browne said.
The Smithsonian was created by the federal government, and about two-thirds of its funding comes from federal appropriations. But its collections are not managed as federal property. It is not clear what legal route the Smithsonian could take, if any, to challenge the relocation measure.
Transporting Discovery the roughly 1,200 miles between Virginia and Texas would be a complex undertaking. The two Boeing 747s specially equipped to carry space shuttles, known as the Shuttle Carrier Aircraft (SCA), are both retired and on display, one in California, the other in Texas.
Moving the spacecraft by land would cost between $50 million and $55 million and increase the risk of damage, according to the Smithsonian. The organization recently suggested that the spacecraft would have to be broken down and moved in pieces to Texas.
The cost of building a new display facility for Discovery in Houston is estimated at about $325 million.
