The Trump administration terminated a vast majority (estimated 85%) of the National Endowment for the Humanities' (NEH) grants, impacting numerous state humanities councils and other recipients. This was done through immediate termination emails, bypassing standard notification processes.
The administration cited safeguarding federal interests and fiscal priorities as the justification. Emails indicated the NEH would "repurpose" funding towards the president's agenda. The letters were signed by Michael McDonald, acting NEH director.
Alongside grant cancellations, NEH employees were placed on administrative leave. The agency's future direction is expected to involve a greater focus on "patriotic programming."
The White House referred comment requests to the Office of Management and Budget, which declined to comment.