Announcements

On July 14, the House Appropriations Committee released the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Subcommittee's FY26 appropriations bill. The bill calls for a 35 percent cut to the National Endowment for the Humanities, funding the agency at $135 million. While we are relieved that the bill does not call for the closeout of the NEH, this cut would bring the funding to levels not seen since 2004. Along with an equivalent cut to the National Endowment for the Arts, these cuts are also vastly disproportionate in a bill that only calls for a 6 percent budget decrease overall. The cuts would do great harm to the humanities community while making a minuscule impact on the overall federal budget.

The Interior Subcommittee markup is taking place this morning, July 15th. We are urging the humanities community to take two actions:

1. Contact your representatives, letting them know that these cuts will harm the cultural sector. Remind them that humanities programs and cultural organizations are essential to healthy communities and a functioning democracy.
2. More importantly, contact your senators, urging them to reject the House's numbers as they continue work on their own appropriations bill.

National Humanities Alliance
www.nhalliance.org