A recent court order requires the Trump administration to halt any spending of funds it reclaimed from the National Endowment for the Humanities. But the NEH and its local affiliates have a long way to go before possibly seeing any money back.
DOGE clawed back the congressionally allocated funds earlier this year — upending planned arts and cultural grants and projects. A federal judge has since ruled those actions were illegal and awarded a preliminary injunction.
But AZ Humanities Executive Director Brenda Thomson says it’s just the beginning of the legal process and an appeal is likely. So it’s making do without the funds.
“We have not let go [of] staff. We definitely are reallocating resources. Everyone’s aware that at some point we might have to downsize or reduce work days or things like that in the future,” Thomson said.
Thomson says some grants and projects had to be paused or canceled. And it’s still unclear what, if anything, will be able to resume. She also says funds for fiscal year 2026 are also unsafe.
“We are very eager to learn what Congress will allocate going forward,” Thomson said. “And the reason why the decision is important is because, as you might imagine, if congressional allocations were not honored previously, the same thing could happen again if there was not a legal decision to the contrary.”
Thomson says some councils are fiscally healthier than others, and AZ is in the middle.
Arizona’s Kris Mayes, along with other states’ attorneys general, had also filed documents supporting the request for a preliminary injunction.