The Trump Administration’s war on arts, culture, libraries, universities, and critical thought in general has entered a new battlefront — this time, the National Endowment for the Humanities and its Oregon affiliate, the state agency Oregon Humanities.

“Late on the evening of April 2, Oregon Humanities received a letter from the acting chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) stating that a grant intended to support the organization’s work through 2027 has been rescinded,” Ben Waterhouse, communications director for Oregon Humanities, wrote in a press release sent out Thursday, April 3. “Every other state and jurisdictional humanities council received the same letter. This news comes on the heels of reports earlier in the week that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) has recommended major cuts to the National Endowment for the Humanities, including reducing or entirely eliminating its staff.”

The budgetary slashes and shutdowns are part of a much larger dismantling and reinvention of the federal government in which massive tariffs against many now only tentatively friendly nations, including Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, all of the nations in the European Union, and even an island that has no people but a large population of penguins, are playing havoc with the world economy and acting as steep taxes on U.S. consumers.

In the process authority is flowing away from the legislative branch of government and to the administrative branch, especially to the presidential office. Federal programs ranging from forestry safety to environmental and medical research and oversight to feeding the hungry domestically and abroad have been slashed or eliminated, and Social Security and veterans’ health care are being targeted.

“These cuts to Oregon Humanities will hit communities and individuals all over Oregon — and the same unnecessary impact will show up across the nation,” Adam Davis, executive director of Oregon Humanities, declared in the press release. “We’ve been working in rural, frontier, and urban communities to create conditions for people to connect and think together even when they disagree. More connecting, listening, and thinking together is what Oregon and the country most need, now more than ever.”

The grants that have been eliminated had already been approved, and humanities agencies across the nation had them worked into their budgets. Further, no new grants will be made in 2025, Elizabeth Blair of National Public Radio, itself a target for discontinuation, reported on Thursday.

“Millions of dollars in previously awarded federal grants intended for arts and cultural groups across the country are being canceled by the Trump administration, according to a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) senior official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they’re not authorized to speak publicly,” NPR reported.

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“The funds had been awarded by the agency through a competitive application process and, according to the official, covered grants from fiscal years 2021-2025. The official said that ‘no upcoming awards’ will be made in fiscal year 2025.”

On the federal scale, the National Endowment for the Humanities has a very small budget — just $211 million — but it hits far above its weight: Since its founding in 1965 it’s awarded more than $6 billion to museums, historic sites, universities, teachers, libraries, documentary filmmakers, public TV and radio stations, research institutions, scholars, and local humanities programming.

The new cuts, Waterhouse said, “will profoundly affect many organizations and communities in Oregon. NEH funds accounted for 44 percent of Oregon Humanities’ budget in 2024, and [Oregon Humanities] has awarded over $16 million in grants to museums, educational institutions, tribes, and other cultural organizations in Oregon since 2020, including the High Desert Museum, the Oregon Coast Aquarium, and Literary Arts.”

Oregon Humanities, Thursday’s press release said, “is an independent nonprofit affiliated with NEH, one of 56 humanities councils tasked with distributing federal funds to local communities in every US state and territory. For over 50 years, Oregon Humanities has helped connect Oregonians to share their ideas and experiences and learn from one another.

“In 2024, Oregon Humanities collaborated with 145 partner organizations around the state; distributed $827,152 in grants and fellowships to small organizations and individuals; and reached more than 50,000 people through its free magazine, podcast, and other media. The organization was created in 1971 to distribute federal dollars in Oregon, and has received funding from NEH without interruption ever since. … [C]uts will profoundly affect many organizations and communities in Oregon. On average, humanities councils raise $2 in private investment for every $1 of federal support they receive.”

Meanwhile, the massive reorganization of national politics and bureaucracy continues apace. Attacks are expected against cultural organizations including the National Endowment for the Arts, National Public Radio, and the Public Broadcasting System, all of which would have a trickle-down effect on local affiliates across the nation.

Oregon’s congressional delegation has been fighting the federal cutbacks. On Wednesday, Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden and House members Maxine Dexter, Suzanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Janelle S. Bynum, and Andrea Salinas sent a letter to Keith Sonderling, acting director of the national Institute of Museum and Library Services, expressing “deep concerns regarding potential cuts to the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) and to remind the administration of its obligation to execute the provisions of the Museum and Library Services Act (MLSA) of 2018, which was signed into law by President Trump. We also write to you with concerns over the news that IMLS has placed its entire staff on administrative leave.

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“Libraries and museums play a vital role in our communities, including in the great state of Oregon,” the letter continues. “Libraries offer access for all to essential information and engagement on a wide range of topics, including skills and career training, broadband, and computing services. IMLS grants enable libraries to develop services in every community, including people of diverse geographic, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds, individuals with disabilities, residents of rural and urban areas, Native Americans, military families, veterans, and caregivers.

“For example, twenty-five percent of the State Library of Oregon’s budget, approximately $2.6 million, comes from IMLS. If these funds were to disappear, the budget for the SAGE courier system in Eastern Oregon, which transported 91,582 items across 15 rural counties in Eastern Oregon in Fiscal Year 2024, would be cut in half. Similarly, without this funding, K-12 students in Oregon would no longer have access to the online resources of the Oregon School Library Information System, which had 677,775 visits in Fiscal Year 2024.”

Amanda Waldroupe wrote for ArtsWatch here about the Trump Administration’s move to gut the Institute of Museum and Library Services.