On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled that the government’s elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants was unlawful.
When the grants were canceled in April, following extreme cuts made by DOGE, many organizations and humanities councils said they could no longer effectively fulfill their duties to local communities without fiscal means.
In May, the Federation of State Humanities Councils and Oregon Humanities had jointly filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Oregon against the NEH and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) for “the disruption and attempted destruction” of the NEH and 56 state and jurisdictional humanities councils. The organizations were seeking to restore terminated grants and to ensure that congressional appropriations flow to humanities councils.
U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon wrote in his decision that “The United States Constitution exclusively grants the power of the purse to Congress, not the President.” Adding, “There is no provision in the Constitution that authorizes the President to enact, to amend, or to repeal statutes.”
As such, Simon believes the councils are “likely to succeed on their claim that the withholding of the funds at issue in this case is unconstitutional.”
Furthermore, Simon points out, “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. The 2024 and 2025 appropriations were no different”.
Despite the ruling, Phoebe Stein, president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, pointed out in a statement that “humanities councils are still operating without their Congressionally appropriated funds, and many have already laid off staff and cancelled vital programs as a result.”
A similar case, jointly filed by the American Historical Association, the Modern Language Association, and the American Council of Learned Societies in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York in May, aimed to reverse the same cuts made to grant programs, staff, and divisions of the NEH in April.
Senior United States District Judge Colleen McMahon, who presided over the case, also ultimately ruled that the law was violated by the government when it terminated the previously awarded humanities grants.
McMahon advised “funds be ‘escrowed’ until we can hold a trial.” Adding that this “process that could lead to the reinstatement of some or all of the grants.”
The NEH has awarded more than $6 billion in grants to museums, historical sites, universities, libraries, and related organizations since it was founded in 1965. Through its grants, the NEH has long supported a variety of creative initiatives and projects. The NEH was started under the same legislation as the National Endowment for the Arts, which offers offers financial assistance for projects, shows, and exhibitions that exude excellence.
The Trump administration has already reallocated some of these funds to support the creation of a new national garden of heroes, with $40 million intended to go toward statues.
In the midst of these cuts, the government agency has seen two-thirds of its workforce laid off, with fewer than 60 employees thought to remain.
