As the possibility of a partial government shutdown looms, we want to shed some light on which humanities programs will be affected if the government cannot reach a funding agreement by midnight tonight. While FY19 funding for some agencies has already been passed by Congress and signed by the president, those agencies whose funding has not yet been finalized will be shut down, including the NEH and several other humanities programs.

Update August 29, 2018: Last Thursday the Senate passed a "minibus" appropriations bill that included level funding for Title VI and Fulbright-Hays. The full House will take action on a bill funding these programs after its August recess.

August 10, 2018: The appropriations process is much further along this August than it has been in years past. Last week the Senate joined the House in passing an Interior appropriations bill that included a $2 million increase for the National Endowment for the Humanities, which would bring its funding level to $155 million for FY 2019.

UPDATE, 7/18/18 4:30 pm: The Grothman amendment was voted down 297 to 112. Thank you for your advocacy!

UPDATE, 7/18/18 10 am: Representative Glenn Grothman (R-WI) offered his amendment on the House floor after 11 pm last night. Chairman of the Interior Appropriations Subcommittee, Ken Calvert (R-CA), opposed the amendment and called for a voice vote. The amendment was voted down, but Rep. Grothman requested a recorded vote, which means that all members of the House will vote on his amendment later today. There is still time to contact your Member of Congress to let them you know oppose this amendment!

Yesterday, the Senate appropriations subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies joined its House counterpart in recommending a $2 million increase for the NEH, which would bring the Endowment’s funding to $155 million for FY 2019. As noted in our previous post, the arts and humanities communities—including the National Humanities Alliance, the Federation of State Humanities Councils, and Americans for the Arts—have been pushing for at least $155 million in funding since the agency’s budgets were cut in 2010. The Senate bill, scheduled to be considered by the full Appropriations Committee tomorrow, brings us a step closer to meeting that goal.

Yesterday evening, the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies released a draft bill that includes $155 million in funding for both the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) for FY 2019. This represents not only another rejection of the administration’s efforts to defund the agencies but also a $2 million increase for each agency above FY 2018 funding levels. This proposed boost comes on the heels of increases in each of the past three years.

Congratulations to Jon Parrish Peede on his confirmation as the chairman of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). He was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate to be the 11th Chairman of the NEH last evening.

Late last night, Congress released a comprehensive spending bill that includes an increase of $3 million dollars for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for the remainder of FY 2018!

This is a huge victory for humanities advocates!

This morning, President Trump released his Presidential Budget Request, which again calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Humanities, along with the National Endowment for the Arts, the Department of Education’s International Education Programs, the National Historical Publications and Records Commission, the Institute for Museums and Library Services, and the Woodrow Wilson Center for International Scholars.

With votes in the Senate last night and in the House this afternoon, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has passed through Congress and will now go to the President's desk to be signed into law. The final bill did NOT include the provision from the House version that would have designated tuition waivers for graduate students as taxable income. Thank you for your advocacy on behalf of graduate studies over the last few weeks; your voices were critical to ensuring that these waivers did not make it into the final bill.