Save Our Humanities Councils: DOGE Cuts to NEH will Damage Cultural Organizations in Every State
April 4, 2025 – UPDATE
On April 4, the Federation learned—through our contacts and reporting by NPR—that 145 NEH staff members (80% of the agency) have been placed on administrative leave by a team from DOGE. We are working closely with our member councils to monitor the situation and address this threat to public humanities.
Please continue to reach out to your elected officials and let them know how these cuts to NEH and humanities councils will hurt your state. We have compiled examples of what will be lost in the South, West, and Midwest that you can reference (with Northeast and Territories coming soon).
April 3, 2025 – UPDATE
Late last night, Wednesday, April 2, all humanities councils received emails and letters under the signature of NEH Acting Chair Michael McDonald notifying them that all awarded grants—including their 5-year General Operating Grants and other program-specific awards—were canceled in their entirety, effective April 1. We will continue to share updates as we learn more. Please continue to use the links and script below to educate your legislators on the devastating impact this loss of funding will have on your states.
April 2, 2025
On Monday, March 31, the Federation of State Humanities Councils learned that DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) is targeting the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) with the aim of substantially reducing its staff, cutting the agency’s grant programs, and rescinding grants that have already been awarded. The National Endowment for the Humanities is the only federal agency that funds our nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils.
The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve communities in their states, eliminating programs that are essential to each state’s cultural infrastructure.
Learn more about humanities councils and what they do.
If humanities councils lose funding, we’ll also lose:
- Life-saving programs for veterans that honor their service
- Family reading and literacy programs
- History programs commemorating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence
- Vital support for K-12 teachers and students
- National History Day programs for students across the country
- Funding for rural museums and historical societies
- Book and cultural festivals that draw tourism and private investment
- AND SO MUCH MORE
Humanities councils do all this with only $65 million in federal funding, a percentage of the federal budget too small to represent. The NEH budget for humanities councils is small, but the losses to everyday Americans will be devastating.
Without NEH support, we will lose access to grants and programs that educate, inspire, and bring communities together. Humanities councils work, on average, with over 120 local partners each year and raise $2 in private investment for every $1 of federal support. The ripple effects of these cuts will be felt in every state and territory.
What can you do to protect the humanities councils and their work?
We need every humanities supporter to make their voice heard. Here are concrete, effective actions you can take now:
STEP 1: Call or message your senators and representatives and urge them to protect NEH and humanities councils.
You can use this federal action alert from the National Humanities Alliance and paste in our humanities council-focused script. Find your humanities council here.
STEP 2: Call or message your state and local elected officials and let them know how this loss of funds will impact your community. You can use this local action alert from the National Humanities Alliance and paste in our humanities council-focused script. Find your humanities council here.
STEP 3: Share this action alert on social media and send it directly to five people in your network and ask them to take action as well.
STEP 4: Join our public mailing list to receive updates as the situation progresses and learn how you can support humanities councils.
STEP 5: Write an op-ed letter to the editor for your local newspaper explaining why humanities councils are important and the impact these federal dollars have in your state and community.
Script for Contacting Elected Officials
Protect NEH/ Save Our Humanities Councils
As a constituent, I am [writing/calling] to urgently request that you support the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and save the humanities councils it funds.
On April 2, all humanities councils—along with over a thousand other NEH grantees— received notice from NEH Acting Chair Michael McDonald that their federal grants were terminated, in their entirety, effective April 1.
NEH is the only agency that funds our nation’s 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils, which provide vital cultural services and critical funding to local nonprofit organizations across the nation. Without these funds, they will have to cancel programs, halt local-grantmaking, and in some cases even close their doors for good.
The loss of NEH funding to humanities councils will decimate the ability of these nonprofits to serve communities across our state, eliminating programs that are essential to our region’s cultural infrastructure.
[Say something about your state humanities council here.]
NEH was created by an act of Congress in 1965 and reaffirmed by Republican and Democratic Presidents and legislators over the following 60 years. DOGE’s reductions to the NEH budget and workforce will block the agency’s ability to carry out Congressional intent.
Every Congress for 50 years has supported the state humanities councils and their effective distribution of federal dollars across America. These funds go directly to states (and your district) and allow councils to raise $2 in private investment for every federal dollar spent.
Again, I urge you to protect NEH and NEH funding for humanities councils.
