In 2024, Kate Bowler, a well-known podcaster, and author gave a presentation at a Humanities North Dakota event held in Fargo. The organization’s financial stability seems to be improving after a federal judge hinted at the executive branch’s impropriety in nullifying humanity grants worth two years across the nation. The National Endowment for the Humanities, established by Congress in 1965, is a key provider of funds dedicated to enhancing art, civic, and cultural learning across the country. It supports 56 humanities councils, including Humanities North Dakota.
In early April, the federal government abruptly rescinded grants amounting to hundreds of millions, allocated by Congress for these councils for the fiscal years 2024 and 2025. This was confirmed by court documents. The National Endowment for the Humanities made a statement about redirecting its financial resources to align more closely with the President’s strategic objectives, but it led to considerable damage to the humanities councils.
In the wake of these revisions, Humanities North Dakota disclosed in April that it was on the brink of losing $600,000 in grant funds meant for fiscal year 2024. They did, however, manage to secure $300,000 in private donations, which allowed them to maintain operations. Nevertheless, they still had to make significant reductions to their programming due to the cancellation of the grants.
A recent order shared by Oregon U.S. District Judge Michael Simon suggests that the decision by the executive branch to withdraw funding for humanities councils is likely to be illegal, and could be reversed in the future. Although Simon’s order didn’t directly restore the grant money, it did temporarily prevent the federal government from re-routing the funds elsewhere. This information was corroborated by the Federation of State Humanities Councils.
Brenna Gerhardt, Executive Director of Humanities North Dakota, spoke on the positive effect of the court’s ruling; it signifies the commencement of reviving halted projects, refurbishing community alliances, and enforcing prudent financial maneuvers. These steps reflect both the complications faced recently and indistinct future obligations.
Scrapping grants was one of the multitude of actions taken by executive branch agencies under the instruction of the Department of Government Efficiency. The National Endowment for the Humanities was not only hit with funding reductions but also had to let go of about 65% of its workforce this spring, as mentioned in Simon’s order.
Simon’s judgment is a response to a lawsuit filed against the Department of Government Efficiency and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Federation of State Humanities Councils and one of its members, Oregon Humanities, initiated the litigation.
In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs argue that the defendant withdrew the funding without any substantial rationale and showed complete disregard for the mandate given by Congress, which emphasizes making humanities programs accessible throughout the United States.
The National Endowment for the Humanities proposed that the discontinued grant funding was identified as supporting areas such as diversity, equity, inclusion, disability accommodation, and environmental justice. Such matters were in the crosshairs of an executive order enacted by President Donald Trump earlier in the year, with a view to eliminating them.
Simon pointed out that such an action contradicts the spirit in which Congress intended for the National Endowment for the Humanities to deploy the grant funds. The federal law guides the agency to back initiatives which ‘showcase the variety and abundance of our American cultural heritage’ and ‘pay particular attention to scholars, and educational and cultural institutions, that have traditionally found themselves on the sidelines’.
The funding reduction had a cascading effect, hampering initiatives such as an Indigenous language preservation program in Alaska, a department dedicated to end-of-life care at an Ohio children’s hospital, and numerous rural libraries in Oregon. Judge Simon emphasized these setbacks in his order.
Simon’s order painted a vivid picture of the nationwide impact, stating, ‘humanities funding came to a sudden stop throughout the nation, affecting urban cities and rural communities alike.’ Despite this harsh reality, Federation of State Humanities Councils’ president, Phoebe Stein, hailed Simon’s verdict. She reminded, however, that current circumstances still leave the humanities councils lamentably underfunded.
In court declarations, the National Endowment for the Humanities emphasized that federal rules authorize the termination of grants if they deduce that a grant isn’t in harmony with the agency’s priorities. This ongoing situation leaves a conspicuous uncertainty in the area of humanities funding.
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