The government’s sudden removal of humanities funding that Congress had already approved was declared “unlawful” by a federal judge, and a lawsuit filed by humanities organizations can proceed.
The National Endowment for the Humanities’ awards to thousands of organizations nationwide, including humanities councils, museums, historic sites, archives, libraries, educators, and media outlets, were canceled by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in April.
The Federation of State Humanities Councils and Oregon Humanities filed a complaint against DOGE and the endowment in May, claiming that the abrupt funding reductions formed a “attempted destruction, spearheaded by DOGE, of the congressionally established federal-state partnership.”
The councils were “likely to succeed on their claim that the withholding of the funds at issue in this case is unconstitutional,” according to U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon’s ruling. He said, “The United States Constitution exclusively grants the power of the purse to Congress, not the President.”
Simon also stated that, “Federal funding for the arts and humanities has enjoyed bipartisan support for decades, with Congress continuing to strengthen the statutes governing NEH and provide stable funding generation after generation.”
“Humanities councils are still operating without their Congressionally appropriated funds, and many have already laid off staff and cancelled vital programs as a result,” said Phoebe Stein, president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, in a statement, despite praising the judge’s decision as “excellent.”
The decision, according to Oregon Humanities’ executive director Adam Davis, is “motivating” and “one step among many that are needed in the large, ongoing endeavor to knit our communities and the country closer together.”
A federal judge in New York concluded in July that the government had broken the law by canceling subsidies for the humanities that had already been given out. It stated that until the matter is tried, the grants ought to be restored.
NPR has yet to receive a response from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
This story was edited by Jennifer Vanasco.
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