Legal Blow to the Cancellation of Humanities Grants in North Dakota

In 2024, a talk by the recognized author and podcaster, Kate Bowler, was organized in Fargo by Humanities North Dakota. This organization recently shared that its financial prospects have taken a turn for the better, following a judge’s indication that the executive branch’s abrupt cancellation of two years of humanities grants was not appropriate. The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), established in 1965 by the Congress, has the task of backing education of civics, arts, and culture throughout the United States.

Fifty-six humanities councils, including one led by Humanities North Dakota, are financially dependent on this government agency. However, these councils suffered a major setback in early April when several hundred million dollars’ worth of grants for fiscal years 2024 and 2025 were unexpectedly withdrawn by the federal government, as shown in court documents. In response to this, the NEH declared it was redirecting funding to support the President’s agenda.

According to statements from Humanities North Dakota in April, the organization was looking at losing $600,000 in grant funding for the fiscal year of 2024 as a result of these cuts. The organization, however, was then generously awarded $300,000 from private donors, which enabled them to remain active. Nevertheless, the organization confessed it would need to cut back on certain programs due to the loss of the grant.

In mid-week, a judgement by U.S. District Judge Michael Simon from Oregon, stated that the executive branch’s choice to withdraw funding from the humanities councils was not legal, and predicted an overturn in the future. This ruling doesn’t restore any of the grant funds but does put a temporary hold on the federal government from reallocating these funds elsewhere, according to the Federation of State Humanities Councils.

“Given the court’s decision, our next steps involve restarting halted projects, reconnecting with our community collaborators, and making sensible financial decisions reflective of both the ambiguity experienced over past months and our long-term commitments.” was how Brenna Gerhardt, executive director of Humanities North Dakota, responded.

The grant revocations were part of many program terminations, driven by Department of Government Efficiency, by the executive branch agencies. Alongside these financial reductions, approximately 65% of the National Endowment for the Humanities’ staff was laid off, as Judge Simon’s decree summarily noted.

Judge Simon’s ruling was issued in relation to a lawsuit brought upon the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Department of Government Efficiency by the Federation of State Humanities Councils and one of its members, Oregon Humanities. They lodged a complaint that the federal government scrapped the funding without any detailed analysis and without any consideration to the Congress-affirmed role of these councils, which is to guarantee humanities programs are accessible throughout the United States.

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ stance was that this grant withdrawal was necessary because the grants were deemed to promote areas like diversity, equity and inclusion, disability accommodation, and environmental justice. These are subjects President Donald Trump, earlier this year, pledged to eliminate in an executive order.

Simon responded to this by stating that such actions directly contradict the intentions Congress had for the use of grant funding by the National Endowment for the Humanities. Federal regulation decrees that the agency should support initiatives that ‘are a reflection of the diversity and vastness of our nation’s cultural richness’ and ‘give particular attention to educators, scholars, and institutions of culture and education that have traditionally not received due representation.’

Judge Simon then went on to mention the detrimental impact that the funding reductions have had on an array of programs, among them an Alaskan Indigenous language preservation initiative, an end-of-life care department in an Ohio children’s hospital, and several rural libraries in Oregon. According to Simon, the abrupt cessation of humanities funding has affected urban and rural communities alike.

Phoebe Stein, the president of the Federation of State Humanities Councils, commended Judge Simon’s decision in a statement issued on the same day. However, she expressed the ongoing challenges of the current situation, pointing out the underfunding of humanities councils and the consequent layoffs and cancellations of essential programs.

The National Endowment for the Humanities’ stance on this issue has been defended by the institution in court documents, defending their prerogative to terminate any grant on a whim, should they deduce it’s not in alignment with agency goals. The extensive fallout from these financial decisions continues to unfold, impacting the humanities and education sectors in significant ways.