Trump Proposes Eliminating the NEA and NEH as Arts Grants Are Canceled
Samantha Chery Washington Post
The building that houses the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities in Washington. (photo: Matt McClain/The Washington Post)
Trump’s proposed budget follows his attempts to reshape the nation’s arts landscape and defund institutions.
The proposed cuts come even after the NEH slashed its workforce and the NEA canceled grants in compliance with Trump’s directives to reduce the federal workforce and shut down diversity, equity and inclusion programs. The tentative budget plan also targets the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, as part of $163 billion in proposed cuts across much of the federal government.
Established by Congress in 1965, the NEA serves as the largest funder of the arts and arts education for communities across the country, primarily through grantmaking. The NEH helps fund humanities programs by supporting museums, libraries, universities, and public television and radio stations. Since Trump returned to office, he has enacted and proposed drastic changes to both agencies to fit his agenda for the arts, which includes extinguishing efforts to extend the reach of the arts to diverse communities and shifting funding to causes he deems more patriotic, including celebrations for the upcoming 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence.
In February, the NEA announced the cancellation of its Challenge America grant — reserved for projects supporting underserved communities — and the introduction of the Grants for Arts Projects — for initiatives that “celebrate the nation’s rich artistic heritage and creativity by honoring the semiquincentennial of the United States of America.”
Trump’s 2026 fiscal year budget proposal must be approved by Congress and signed by him before it can be implemented. Shortly after it was released, the NEA reportedly rescinded grants for several theaters, citing Trump’s artistic priorities, according to the American Theatre magazine.
Last month, after the administration eyed plans to make NEH cuts, at least 1,200 NEH grants were canceled, according to the National Humanities Alliance. Many NEH employees also received reduction-in-force notices about a week later.
Then, NEH acting chair Michael McDonald told the National Council of Humanities that some funds from the NEH and NEA would be repurposed to pay for the National Garden of American Heroes and next year’s Declaration of Independence celebrations.
Trump initially announced his plans for the garden during his first term, signing two executive orders related to the project, but both orders were rescinded by President Joe Biden.
Trump has unsuccessfully fought to defund the NEA and NEH for years. In 2017, he proposed nixing the 2018 fiscal year federal funding for the agencies, along with the similarly targeted library and public broadcasting agencies, threatening the future of thousands of arts and culture programs across the country. At the time, the proposed budget for the four agencies accounted for about 0.02 percent of the overall federal budget.
Congress ultimately rejected the plan, along with Trump’s similar attempts to drastically reduce funding for the programs in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 fiscal year budgets. Instead, NEA and NEH funding increased with bipartisan support throughout Trump’s first term.
