In response to President Donald Trump’s effort to reshape the Smithsonian Institution, four Democratic members of a House oversight committee urged Vice President JD Vance to reject such an attempt to impose the president’s own views of American history.

In a letter sent Thursday to the office of Vance, who sits on the Smithsonian’s board, the legislators said the effort would threaten the Smithsonian’s curatorial autonomy and excellence.

“Today, it is the envy of cultural institutions across the planet — not because of ideological edicts or interference from politicians, but because of the world-renowned experts who independently curate the Smithsonian’s collections, programs, exhibits and activities,” the letter said. “It is this curatorial independence that is the hallmark of credible museums and cultural institutions.”

The letter was written by Democratic members of the 12-person Committee on House Administration, which oversees the Smithsonian. It came in response to a March executive order by Trump titled “Restoring Truth and Sanity to American History.”

In the order, the president criticized what he described as a “revisionist movement” across the country that “seeks to undermine the remarkable achievements of the United States by casting its founding principles and historical milestones in a negative light.”

He took particular aim at the Smithsonian, accusing it of promoting “narratives that portray American and Western values as inherently harmful and oppressive.”

Trump does not directly control the Smithsonian, a federal institution with 21 museums as well as libraries, research centers and the National Zoo. It is governed by a Board of Regents and overseen by Congress.

But the Smithsonian does receive a majority (62%) of its more than $1 billion annual budget from congressional appropriations, federal grants and government contracts.

The letter defending the Smithsonian has no binding authority, but it praised the institution as a force for unity that brings together “ideologically and geographically diverse Americans of many backgrounds to learn about our shared national story and build the nation’s collective memory.”

“Unfortunately, we now stand at the brink of seeing the Smithsonian at its worst: shaped solely by the views and ideology of one individual as a means of expanding his political power,” the letter said.

The letter was signed by Reps. Joseph Morelle of New York, Norma Torres of California, Terri Sewell of Alabama and Julie Johnson of Texas.

Vance’s press secretary, Taylor Van Kirk, said in a statement Friday that “President Trump is restoring patriotism and pride in American history to our greatest public museums and protecting taxpayers from having their money wasted on divisive ideologies.”