WASHINGTON, D.C.: In a new FY26 appropriations bill proposal for the interior, environment, and related agencies released today, the House Appropriations Interior Subcommittee recommended 35 percent cuts to the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) budget, and a 17.2 percent reduction in the Kennedy Center’s budget. If passed, this would be the NEA’s lowest allocation since 2007, without accounting for inflation. This comes after Trump’s previous threat to fully eliminate the organizations, and last May’s devastating revocation of NEA funding to countless arts organizations across the country—many of whom were informed their projects would not be supported after waiting for final confirmation.
According to the bill proposal, the Kennedy Center would receive $37.2 million, and the NEA and the NEH would each receive $135 million. Those amounts for the NEA and NEH are $72 million below their FY25 levels. The entirety of the proposed Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill includes an allocation of $37.971 billion, a $2.54 billion (6 percent) decrease from FY25.
Key takeaways from the proposal include a section on “supporting the Trump administration and mandate of the American people” that would prohibit the use of funds to “promote or advance critical race theory” or to support “diversity, equity, and inclusion training or implementation.”
An advocacy alert from Theatre Communications Group, publisher of this magazine, shared an NEA Issue Brief with talking points in support of the NEA. Advocates across the arts and culture sector around the country are also encouraged to “urge their elected officials to support the NEA and the critical, independent work it does to bring the arts to everyone,” said Erica Lauren Ortiz, TCG lead of government and advocacy programs. “Without adequate support for this agency, not only are direct grants threatened, but essential funding for state and regional arts agencies would be devastated as well.”
For many years, as the alert notes, Congress has demonstrated bipartisan support for the NEA, passing budgets that fund the NEA at $207 million in FY23, FY24, and FY25, and strong bipartisan support for the NEA has been essential. “Historically, Congress has acted to maintain and grow NEA resources,” Ortiz said, “and with good reason: the arts have strong bipartisan support among the American public, and the NEA’s work is valuable to all districts in the country.”
With the NEA having already undergone severe cuts to its staff, such drastic slashing of the budget would result in severe losses of public access to the arts and critical employment that sustains artists and administrators in communities throughout the country.
