Texas Senators have launched an all-out crusade to break Space Shuttle Discovery into pieces and move it to their state. This iconic spacecraft has been on display at the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C., for more than a decade, and the institution isn’t giving it up without a fight.

As this saga has unfolded over the past several months, the Smithsonian has warned Congress that breaking Discovery apart would not only be costly but would also risk destroying its historical value. Now, Texas Senators have called on the Department of Justice to investigate the Smithsonian’s “illegal lobbying” against the shuttle’s move.

“This is a silly attempt to silence the Smithsonian from publicly defending their full and permanent ‘right, title and interest’ of Discovery, and a tactic that was previously tried with an appeal to Smithsonian Chancellor and Chief Justice John Roberts,” said Joe Stief, founder of Keep The Shuttle, a grassroots effort to keep the Discovery at the Smithsonian.

“While the Chancellor did not publicly take any actions after the August statement, it appears that Sen. Cornyn is hoping to find a more receptive audience at the Department of Justice,” he told Gizmodo in a statement.

How did we get here?

In April, Texas Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced a bill to “bring Discovery home to Texas.” That bill was ultimately included in the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, signed into law on July 4.

The move has been met with opposition from the Smithsonian, supporters of the museum, and Democratic lawmakers. In September, Senators Mark Kelly (D-AZ), Mark Warner (D-VA), Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Dick Durbin (D-IL) sent a letter to the Senate Appropriations Committee urging for fiscal year 2026 spending measures to pause any efforts to move the space shuttle.

The Smithsonian followed suit, sending its own letter to the committee stating that both it and NASA believe that relocating Discovery would cost up to $150 million and could result in irreparable damage to the shuttle. That cost would far exceed the $85 million allocated to the shuttle’s relocation in the bill.

“I am not surprised that the relocation’s proponents were dismayed to see these facts presented to Congress and then publicly,” Stief said. “But rather than providing any details of an alternative plan to relocate Discovery, they continue to allude to ‘industry experts’ who disagree with NASA and the Smithsonian—the organizations who designed, flew, transported, and now preserve the shuttle.”

Entering tricky legal terrain

In a letter sent to the DOJ on Wednesday, Senators Cornyn and Cruz and Congressman Randy Weber indeed claim that “industry experts” do not support the Smithsonian’s claim that Discovery would need to be deconstructed. They also cast doubt on the institution’s cost estimate for the shuttle’s relocation, claiming it is “more than 10 times higher than quotes from experienced private-sector logistics firms.”

The letter argues that the Smithsonian has potentially violated the Anti-Lobbying Act. This federal law prohibits the use of appropriated government funds—without authorization from Congress—to influence members of Congress or other government officials on legislation.

The Smithsonian maintains that it has owned Discovery ever since NASA transferred “all rights, title, interest, and ownership” to the institution in 2012 and questions the legality of any government-ordered relocation of the shuttle. Cornyn, Cruz, and Weber refute this, stating that the Smithsonian is fundamentally a federal entity funded mostly by Congress and bound by federal law.

This dispute centers on the Smithsonian’s status as a “trust instrumentality,” a public trust recognized by Congress but distinct from federal agencies. This allows the Smithsonian to operate independently. What’s more, legal precedent states that artifacts donated to the institution are not federal property but Smithsonian property.

It’s not yet clear whether the DOJ will formally investigate the Smithsonian, and with no end in sight to the current government shutdown, Discovery’s fate hangs in the balance. The stalled fiscal year 2026 appropriations bill includes competing provisions that could either enforce or halt the shuttle’s relocation. We’ll just have to wait and see.