Kevin’s Corner – May 2026

The storms of the spring often light up the sky with great anger and fury only to subside to allow the sun to come out the next day to warm the plants and trees that have been nourished by the rain.

At the time this article is published, all Humanities Councils (Councils) across the United States and its territories will have been without federal funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) for thirteen months.

In April last year, NEH terminated all contracts with Councils in response to Presidential Executive Orders directing agencies to pause Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion activities, programs advancing woke gender ideology, and efforts implementing the new green deal.

None of the Executive Orders referenced the Councils. No due process, hearing or explanation of the violation of law, was provided by NEH to the Councils.

The Federation of State Humanities Councils (Federation) successfully obtained a preliminary injunction against NEH in Federal Court which the Trial Court Judge directed NEH to engage in no further actions that would harm the Councils.

While the Court reinstated the contracts between Councils and NEH, the Court delayed answering the question of what discretion NEH had to provide the Councils with the full appropriation identified by Congress.

In February of this year, Congress once again appropriated $65 million to the Councils within the NEH appropriation. Congress added additional language in the bill to underscore its intention to ensure the $65 million reached the Councils.

Because NEH had no acting Chair, NEH informed the Councils that it was unable to provide any funding in fiscal year 2026.

In April, the Federation went back to Court to ask for funding withheld in 2025 to be forwarded to the Councils. The Federation also brought to the Court’s attention that NEH had not forwarded any funding to Councils for fiscal year 2026.

Within a week of the Federation’s filing with the Court, NEH announced that Bill English had been appointed as interim NEH Chair. Chair English is an assistant professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University and a member of the Georgetown Institute for the Study of Markets and Ethics. 

NEH however has not yet made any funding available to Councils.

Even amidst the uncertainty, communities across Minnesota are asking for more opportunities to come together, more support for educators, and more support for dialogue and understanding. At MHC we remain committed to creating opportunities for people with one another in ways that strengthen community and civic life across our state.

Late last week, the plaintiffs in the consolidated action of American Council of Learned Societies, et al and Authors Guild, et. al. v. NEH, were granted their motion for summary judgment.

The Court held that NEH’s mass terminations were unlawful, unconstitutional, ultra vires, and without legal effect. The Court found that the actions of NEH violated the First Amendment and Fifth Amendment.

There is some great language in the opinion highlighting on several occasions the point that “the arts and the humanities belong to all the people of the United States” and that the NEH was never meant to “convey a governmental message.”

I also appreciated the unequivocal language in the opinion that the Executive Orders – 14151 (Ending Radical DEI Programs), 14168 (Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism) and 14222 (Department of Government Efficiency) do not create any new law that authorizes government officials to act.

My enthusiasm was tempered by the Court’s admonition that the Order stopped short of requiring “the immediate payment of grant funds, adjudicating any contractual entitlement to money, or prevents NEH form administering grants in accordance with the law and the Constitution.”

The full 143–page decision (PDF) is available to read online.

We will see how long it takes NEH to respond to the ACLS/Author’s Guild v. NEH decision with how it intends to make whole the parties that were harmed and how it intends to administer grants going forward. This is uncharted territory.

Yet even during these uncertain times, the work of the humanities continues. Across Minnesota people continue coming together to share, reflect, and better understand.

As we navigate this uncertain season, we invite you to stand with MHC by becoming a contributor or sponsoring of one of our programs.