Two days before President Trump’s inauguration, we awoke to reports that the transition team was contemplating a proposal to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). On March 16, after almost two months of near silence on the subject, the administration released a budget blueprint even more threatening to humanities programs than had been initially reported. The administration’s proposal not only recommends the elimination of the NEH and the NEA, but also the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Woodrow Wilson Center. Additionally, it calls for the “reduction or elimination” of the Department of Education’s Title VI and Fulbright-Hays programs.

Over the past four months, the National Humanities Alliance has been working in close partnership with MPSA and our other members to demonstrate support for the NEH. This campaign has resulted in nearly 150,000 messages and phone calls to Members of Congress and President Trump. A record-breaking number of humanities advocates joined us in Washington D.C. for Humanities Advocacy Day in March, visiting their congressional offices and making the case for robust funding for the NEH and other humanities programs. Advocates have published op-eds highlighting the local and national import of the NEH. Subsequent to the release of the budget blueprint, we have also launched grass-roots campaigns in support of the other agencies.

Since the Trump Administration released its plan in March, our attention has turned primarily to Congress, which will ultimately decide whether and at what level to fund the NEH and the other cultural agencies for FY 2018. As Congress begins its work, the budget committees will release their Congressional Budget Resolutions, which set an overall spending limit, but whose recommendations for specific discretionary programs are just advisory. The appropriations committees in each house will then draft twelve appropriations bills proposing funding levels for all discretionary spending, including for the NEH and other humanities programs. If those bills clear their committees, the full House and Senate will have to pass them. Finally, bills from each house will need to be reconciled in a conference committee. This is a long process that will likely stretch into the fall. Proposals to eliminate funding for the NEH and other humanities programs could gain traction at any point.

Reasons for Optimism

Trump’s budget proposal is just a proposal. Members of the appropriations committees have their own agendas and priorities, and have been largely supportive of the NEH and other humanities funding, particularly in the last two years. After passing a $2 million increase for NEH in FY 2016, Congress passed another $2 million increase for FY 2017 in early May. Further, Republican members of the House and Senate subcommittees that allocate funds to the NEH and the NEA have gone on record supporting the programs even in the face of the President’s proposal for FY 2018. Finally, letters to the President and to the appropriations committees requesting a $5 million increase for the NEH in FY 2018 have received bipartisan support.

Causes for Concern

While we anticipate that the appropriations committees will be supportive of the NEH, the upcoming FY 2018 appropriations process is likely to be prolonged and contentious as Congress struggles to abide by budget caps that were put in place as part of the 2011 budget deal. While the current cap may be renegotiated, if the resulting cap is still low, the Trump Administration’s efforts to increase defense and military construction spending would necessitate severe cuts to non-defense discretionary spending. This would leave the NEH, along with a wide range of other domestic programs, vulnerable to deep cuts or even elimination as appropriators are forced to make difficult choices. If the new budget cap is higher, appropriators will have more room for domestic spending.

We are also concerned that the call from the Trump Administration to eliminate funding for the NEH, the NEA, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting will embolden those within Congress who have long sought to defund these agencies in particular. While this is unlikely to happen within the appropriations committees, opponents of the NEH could introduce an amendment to eliminate funding when either chamber considers the appropriations bill or during negotiations over the differences between House and Senate appropriations bills.

Advocacy Strategy

Given these concerns, we are working to raise awareness of the work that the NEH supports around the country and the diverse communities it serves. We are encouraging leaders of higher education institutions and other humanities organizations—as well as individual NEH grantees—to write letters to the editor about the transformative impact of the NEH. We are also working to expand our list of grassroots advocates so that Members of Congress receive as many calls and messages as possible at critical points in the appropriations process.

MPSA has been an indispensable ally in these efforts. Individual members can also play a key role as well. By starting with our Take Action page (http://www.nhalliance.org/take_action), you can sign up for our action alerts, write your Member of Congress, and share these links to our resources with family, friends, and colleagues. Sharing this advocacy campaign and other social media assets will help expand our network and demonstrate to Congress the deep support for NEH across the country.

While it is important to build support among all Members of Congress, the support of particular Members will be key at certain stages of the appropriations process. By signing up for our action alerts, encouraging others to do the same, and sharing our alerts on social media, you will also increase the likelihood that we can reach advocates in key districts.

This challenge to the NEH and other humanities programs has inspired an outpouring of support for federal humanities funding. Over the coming months, it is critical that we continue to mobilize even more advocates to increase public awareness of the impact of these programs and to ensure that Members of Congress continue to hear from their constituents.

About the Author: Beatrice Gurwitz is assistant director of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA). Prior to joining NHA, Gurwitz served as a consultant at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of State. She can be reached at bgurwitz@nhalliance.org.

With a new President and Congress taking office this month, it is time to redouble our advocacy efforts on behalf of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and other federal humanities funding streams.  As a member of the National Humanities Alliance, the Midwest Political Science Association is a key partner in our work to ensure a vibrant future for these sources of funding. At this critical time, each individual member of MPSA has a crucial role to play in making clear to elected officials that their constituents value the humanities. Below, we provide an overview of the legislative landscape and information about the ways you can help safeguard the NEH and other federal programs.

An Uncertain Landscape

November’s elections created a newly uncertain landscape, and we believe that there is now an increased risk of three adverse scenarios: (1) an effort to decrease non-defense discretionary appropriations in general, leading to a proportional reduction in the NEH’s funding; (2) a more targeted effort to decrease funding for the NEH; and (3) an attempt to eliminate the NEH altogether.

These scenarios concern us given that for the past four years, the House Budget Committee has issued  a non-binding recommendation to substantially cut non-defense discretionary spending and eliminate the NEH. In recent months, we have also seen certain Senators raise concerns about specific grants and the NEH’s grant-making process more generally. Finally, we are concerned that the general discourse of anti-intellectualism and anti-elitism prevalent during the election cycle will manifest itself in attacks on the NEH or other humanities programs.

At the same time, we have been heartened by the support Republicans in Congress—particularly appropriators—have demonstrated for the NEH in recent years. Despite the recommendation in the budget resolution, Republican-led appropriations committees passed a modest increase for the NEH in FY 2016 and proposed another for FY 2017. We count a growing number of Republican allies in Congress and do not believe that humanities funding is, or should be, a partisan issue. Further, the incoming Trump Administration has given no indication that they support efforts to defund or eliminate federal humanities programs, including the NEH.

While we have a solid foundation of support, we are realistic about the possibility of threats to NEH funding and are preparing to vigorously oppose any proposals that would harm the humanities.

Appropriations Timeline

Congress failed to pass appropriations bills for FY 2017 before FY 2016 ended on October 1, 2016. Instead, Congress passed a Continuing Resolution (CR) to fund the federal government at FY 2016 levels through December 9, 2016. In December, Congress passed yet another CR, with spending authority now set to expire on April 28, 2017. Congressional leadership has indicated that the 115^th Congress will consider appropriations for the balance of FY 2017 and for FY 2018 in the spring.

The additional time to resolve spending for FY 2017 will allow the incoming Trump Administration to shape appropriations for the final five months of the fiscal year. Both the Senate and House appropriations committees provided increases for the NEH in draft FY 2017 appropriations bills, and we will push for those increases to be included in any final legislation. However, this is the first juncture where we may see efforts from Congress and the new administration to decrease overall discretionary spending or to increase military funding at the expense of domestic spending.  Either scenario would leave less funding in FY 2017 for domestic priorities, including the humanities.

At the same time, Congress must begin developing a budget and appropriations legislation for FY 2018. Typically, an administration would submit a budget request to Congress in mid-February. Congress would hold hearings throughout the spring, introducing Congressional Budget Resolutions in mid-March, followed by draft appropriations legislation in each House, as normal. We expect this schedule to be somewhat delayed by consideration of FY 2017 appropriations and the slow pace of the presidential transition. Through this process, we will be prepared to combat any proposals to decrease funding or eliminate the NEH.

How we are preparing and how you can help

Since the election, we have been connecting with key Members of Congress and the new administration to make the case for the value of the NEH and other federal humanities programs. This has involved coordinating outreach and messaging strategies with allies, providing information to newly elected officials on how the programs support their key policy goals, and maintaining contact with appropriators and other critical Members of Congress.

We have also launched the Campaign for Humanities Funding to expand our network of advocates so that we are well-prepared to fight any attack on federal funding for the humanities. Please consider signing up and urging your colleagues and friends to sign up. We will let you know when proposals in Congress threaten the humanities and give you a simple way to contact your elected officials. You can also join us on social media (Facebook and Twitter) where you can amplify our voice at critical moments.

Finally, we are also working to ensure that our Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day on March 13 and 14 brings a record-breaking number of humanities advocates to Washington, D.C. and that all Congressional districts are represented. Humanities Advocacy Day falls at an especially critical moment this year as Congress will not only be negotiating a budget package for FY 2017 but also beginning the process for FY 2018. It is therefore crucial that Members of Congress hear from their constituents that they support humanities funding. Please consider joining us.

Over the coming weeks and months we will keep the humanities community updated on developments in Washington. At critical times like these, Members of Congress need to hear from their constituents frequently, and you are critical to our efforts to ensure that they do.

About the Author: Beatrice Gurwitz is assistant director of the National Humanities Alliance (NHA). Prior to joining NHA, Gurwitz served as a consultant at the National Endowment for the Humanities and the U.S. Department of State. She has also taught at the University of Maryland and in the New York City public school system. She is the author of Argentine Jews in the Age of Revolt (Brill, 2016). Her writing has also appeared in Journal of Jewish Identities, Immigrants and Minorities, and the Chronicle of Higher Education. She holds a B.A. from Wesleyan University and a Ph.D. in History from the University of California, Berkeley. She can be reached at bgurwitz@nhalliance.org.

Two Opportunities for MSPA Members to Support Federal Funding for the Discipline (Grant deadlines quickly approach!)  The next few months represent a critical window for those of us in the humanities and social sciences (especially political science) as incoming legislators may not yet fully appreciate the importance of funding our research. Of the $37.9 billion the federal government spends on research and development annually, less than 5% ($1.9 billion) is invested in Social and Behavioral Science Research. You have two upcoming opportunities to meet your elected officials to help underscore the importance of Federal funding to our discipline. To support participation, MPSA is funding two grant programs this year for MPSA members to participate in the following events in Washington, DC:

• March 13-14, 2017 – National Humanities Alliance (NHA) Annual Meeting and Humanities Advocacy Day. As part of this event, participants receive detailed issues briefs and background material on the current status of federal humanities funding in preparation for Congressional Hill visits coordinated by the NHA staff.  Each year, advocates travel to Capitol Hill as part of state delegations to urge Congress to increase funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and other key humanities programs. Apply for MPSA’s NHA. Deadline: January 23, 2017
• March 29-30, 2017 – Consortium of Social Science Association (COSSA) 2017 Science Policy Conference & Social Science Advocacy Day This event (formerly the COSSA Annual Meeting) brings together COSSA members and other stakeholders for a day of discussion about federal policy impacting our science followed by the only annual, coordinated advocacy day in support of all of the social and behavioral sciences. Apply for MPSA’s COSSA  travel grant. Deadline: January 23, 2017 

Additionally, MPSA will provide complimentary COSSA Science Policy Conference and NHA Annual Meeting registrations for eligible members in these key states with Members of Congress who are critical to successful funding: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nevada, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, Virginia, Washington DC.