DC Tourists Frustrated by Museum Closures as Shutdown Persists

[marmar]

(Bloomberg CityLab) Daniel Claxton arrived in Washington over the weekend with his family to see all the highlights of the nation’s capital. But the government shutdown is putting a damper on the trip.

Sunday marked the first day that the Smithsonian Institution museums, which include the National Zoo, were closed because of the impasse between Senate Democrats and Republicans over extending health-care subsidies — a roadblock to a spending bill that’s led to the shutdown.

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At the National Mall that’s ringed by the Smithsonian museums, two tourists were riding bicycles Sunday past the National Museum of African American History, the National Museum of American History and the National Museum of Natural History, hoping one of them would be open.

One of the cyclists, a woman from Germany who asked not to be identified, said she hadn’t known the museums, a planned highlight of her visit, would be closed. The tourist said she first arrived in Canada for a work trip and decided she would also tour some US cities, including Washington, New York and Chicago. While the woman said she doesn’t fully understand the shutdown, she said it seems unusual from a German perspective. .................(more)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-10-12/dc-tourists-frustrated-by-museum-closures-as-shutdown-persists?srnd=homepage-americas