|
Earlier today, President Trump released his “skinny” budget request for FY 2026. Since this is not a full budget request, funding levels for many of our priorities were not included. However, the National Endowment for the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Woodrow Wilson Center, were slated for elimination “consistent with the President’s efforts to decrease the size of the Federal Government to enhance accountability, reduce waste, and reduce unnecessary governmental entities.” Overall, the president’s budget request seeks to eliminate $163 billion in non-defense discretionary spending from the federal budget.
This was not unexpected. It is consistent with the administration's efforts to dismantle the NEH by cancelling grants, eliminating programs, and firing staff. Further, each year of his previous term, President Trump proposed eliminating the NEH in his budget request. Thanks to the bipartisan support we cultivated on the Hill with your help, each year we were able to not only maintain funding for the agency but also win funding increases. Bipartisan support remains strong and has been evident in our conversations on the Hill in the wake of DOGE’s actions against the NEH. We will lean on that bipartisan support again now.
We will be back in touch early next week with actions you can take.
|
