Wyden, Merkley Demand Trump Administration Restore Funding for National Endowment for the Humanities
“Libraries, museums, historic sites, and community centers in rural communities and small towns face particularly dire financial futures without grant funding from state humanities councils and the NEH.”
Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley said today they have joined Senate and House colleagues to demand the Trump administration reverse its termination of congressionally-appropriated funding for grants administered by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
Their letter follows the Oregon Democratic delegation’s denouncement of this administration’s egregious attacks on humanities funding earlier this month.
In this latest letter to Donald Trump and NEH Acting Chair Michael McDonald, the lawmakers wrote: “Overnight, on April 2, 2025, the NEH terminated all current five-year General Operating Support grants awarded to state and jurisdictional humanities councils. This funding provides the majority of operating support for state humanities council partners of NEH. The administration is also targeting NEH with the aim of terminating more than 1,400 other grant awards, substantially reducing its staff, and eliminating many of the agency’s previously announced grant programs. Such reckless actions will have a devastating impact on museums, historic sites, universities, educators, libraries, public television and radio stations, research institutions, and local humanities programming throughout our nation.
“For over 60 years, NEH staff have helped grantees, from individuals to museums and nonprofits, provide high-quality humanities programs to communities across the country, including 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils. NEH funds, allocated to state humanities councils, are for local use and allow councils to leverage $2 in private investment for every federal dollar spent. The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve localities in their states, eliminating programs that are essential to each state’s cultural infrastructure. This will lead to significant job loss in communities that are the most vulnerable to the lack of federal support,” the lawmakers continued.
“These cuts will not provide significant savings for the federal government nor the American taxpayer, but they will impact millions who benefit from the far-reaching humanities programs, including our veterans, students, educators, and seniors. We urge the Administration to reconsider this decision. Supporting the NEH is not merely an investment in cultural preservation; it is also a crucial investment in community health, education, social development, and economic vitality,” the lawmakers concluded.
NEH funding provides the majority of operating support for state humanities councils. The Trump administration is also threatening to terminate more than 1,400 other grant awards at the NEH, substantially reducing its staff, and eliminating many of the agency’s previously awarded and announced grant programs.
U.S. Senators Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and Jack Reed (D-R.I.) led the letter, which was co-signed by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), Angus King (I-Me.), Mazie Hirono (D-Hawai'i), Kristen Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Chris Coons (D-Del.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Catherine Cortez-Masto (D-Nev.), Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.), Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), and 108 members of the U.S. House of Representatives, in addition to Wyden and Merkley.
Full text of the letter is here.
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