As many of you already know, the humanities received two pieces of bad news this week. William “Bro” Adams, the chair of the National Endowment for the Humanities, resigned on Monday, and President Donald Trump’s FY18 budget was released with major cuts to and elimination of many programs. As Lee White, executive director of the National Coalition for History (NCH), notes, Congress controls appropriations, Trump’s budget has already met with criticism on both sides of the aisle, and the process of passing a budget is lengthy and goes through a number of subcommittees.
While OAH will be calling on our members over the summer to contact members of congressional subcommittees responsible for the various programs targeted for cuts or elimination, we are not requesting action on your part immediately. Your membership dues allow the OAH to work closely with the NCH, as well as the National Humanities Alliance, and their advocacy efforts, and they will be updating the OAH regularly on the federal budget requests. At the appropriate time, we will ask you to contact your Senator or Representative to help support the many humanities programs affected by this budget.