— Have you heard the news that Texas' senators want to chop up NASA's retired space shuttle Discovery in order to move it from the Smithsonian to Houston? The lawmakers in question have and are now crying foul to the Justice Department.

Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), together with Rep. Randy Weber (R-TX-14) on Wednesday (Oct. 22) sent a letter to the DOJ urging the Smithsonian be investigated for violating the Anti-Lobbying Act. They claim that the institution — Discovery's home for the past 13 years — improperly used appropriated funds to influence Congress with regards to relocating the winged orbiter.

"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 Trump's One Big Beautiful Bill Act," wrote Cornyn and Cruz to Attorney General Pamela Jo Bondi and Assistant Attorney General Brett Shumate. "These steps include lobbying the staff of the Senate Appropriations and Rules Committees to express disapproval, coordinating with members of the press to generate public opposition to the law's passage and disseminating misinformation about the cost and logistics of the move."

The letter also alleged that the Smithsonian has called for the pending fiscal year 2026 Interior and Environment Appropriations Act and the Commerce, Justice, and Science Appropriations Act to be amended such that it blocks funding for the shuttle's transport and rehousing.

"Furthermore [on the subject of funding], the Institution has circulated cost estimates that exceed quotes from experienced private-sector logistics firms by more than tenfold and has falsely claimed the shuttle's wings would need to be removed for transport, a claim not supported by industry experts," wrote Cornyn, Cruz and Weber.

Checks and balances

The appeal to the DOJ advances similar concerns that Cornyn first raised in a August letter to Chief Justice of the United States John Roberts in his role as chancellor of the Smithsonian. In that correspondence, also co-authored by Weber, Cornyn urged that Roberts "conduct a comprehensive internal review" for any violations of the Anti-Lobbying Act and "immediate and appropriate corrective measures be implemented" if found.

It is unknown what, if any, actions Roberts took in response to the letter. The Smithsonian issued a statement asserting it "does not engage in direct or grassroots lobbying" and that its staff has "acted in accordance with all governing rules and regulations."

The Smithsonian has also stated it is not a part of the federal government and holds clear title to Discovery, as transferred by NASA in 2012. As such, any attempt to remove Discovery from its collection would be and is unprecedented. The Congressional Research Service raised similar concerns about ownership in a briefing paper it prepared for lawmakers.

At the crux of the latest concerns seems to be a letter the Smithsonian sent to the congressional authorizing and appropriating committees, as first shared by KeepTheShuttle, a grassroots organization founded to support Discovery staying at the National Air and Space Museum's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center in Chantilly, Virginia. In that letter, the Smithsonian cited a cost of $35 to $65 million more than the $85 million authorized by the Big Beautiful Bill Act (and that excluded the construction of a display facility, which was included in the legislation's budget).

To chop or not to chop

The Smithsonian, together with NASA, also expressed concern that "Discovery will have to undergo significant disassembly to be moved."

That possibility, along with the logistics and costs of making the move, resulted in Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Mark Warner (D-VA) and Tim Kaine (D-VA) sending their own letter to the Senate Committee on Appropriations to block funding for the move. Kelly, a former NASA astronaut who flew twice on Discovery, and Warner also released a video on social media contrasting chopping vegetables to chopping up the space shuttle.

"To get it down there [to Houston], you would have to rip off the wings. The head shield, all of those tiles on the bottom, would be stripped off. The white thermal blankets? Gone," says Kelly in the video released on Tuesday (Oct. 21). "If Ted Cruz and Cornyn think they are putting this thing back together, I want to see them get out there. They'll be out there for the next 10 years trying to figure this out."

"This is the dumbest plan I've ever heard in nearly five years in the United States Senate," said Kelly.