Sure, in the 2nd term of the Trump Administration, they went on to cut down on a lot of funds within the country, but when they went on to significantly cut down on humanities grants in April of 2025, that’s what led to a big backlash in the country. Why? Mainly, it was being said that they didn’t have the right to do so because it was already approved by Congress, and that’s pretty much what led to this Humanities Grants Elimination Lawsuit. So let’s just get to the details.
What Is the National Endowment for the Humanities?
Before starting with the case itself, let’s get to know NEH a little better, so for those who know nothing so far, well, the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is a government agency that was established by Congress in 1965, just know that for now. All in all, for the basics, just know that its function is to provide funding for projects in the fields of history, literature, culture, education, and research throughout the US. Plain and simple!
Throughout 60 years, the NEH has provided more than $6 billion in grants. And here is a fact that many people don’t know, like its yearly budget accounts for only a tiny portion of the total federal spending. Hence, even though the agency is small in the overall scale, its influence on local communities is considerable.
What Happened in April 2025?
It was actually in April 2025 that a big change happened and that triggered a lot of things. And just to hint it in a good way, we’d say that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) decided to rescind over 1,000 grants that had been previously approved and handed out by Congress. These were not grant proposals for the future. These were existing grants that the funded organizations depended on for their operations.
Museums, universities, libraries, archives, and state councils suffered from loss of funds in a matter of hours. Since the money ceased so abruptly, a lot of the groups had to let their employees go and stop their activities straight away.
Did NEH Also Cut Staff?
Yes and that just made the situation worse. At about the same time, the NEH closed down several departments and laid off around 65% of its employees.
Such a huge reduction in the number of employees can mean a lot more than just loss of jobs at an agency. It also puts a big question mark over its capacity to handle ongoing grants and the process of new applications. To put it simply, the agency could hardly function as usual.
What Is the Legal Argument?
The main argument is fairly straightforward. Congress, not the President, is the one authorized by the U.S. Constitution to control federal spending. This is frequently referred to as the “power of the purse.”
The plaintiffs contend that the executive branch is not allowed to withhold money that Congress has authorized. They also point out that the decisions to cancel were poorly communicated and might be in violation of a 1974 statute that forbids the President to withhold funds that have been allocated without the approval of Congress.
Simply put, when Congress decides to allocate funds, the money cannot be stopped arbitrarily without due process.
What Have the Courts Said So Far?
A federal court in New York decided in July 2025 that canceling grants that had already been awarded was probably illegal and therefore the court ordered the grants to be funded temporarily.
Later, on August 7, 2025, the Federal Judge Michael H. Simon said that the plaintiffs had a very good chance of winning their lawsuit and that holding back the money was most probably an unconstitutional act. The court has not yet issued the final decision, but it is clear from the statements that the court is very concerned about the manner in which the cuts were executed.