United States Representatives voted overwhelmingly in favor of protecting funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) during a House floor session yesterday evening, July 23.
Republican Josh Brecheen had proposed two amendments to the Fiscal Year 2025 Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act that would have slashed funding for both agencies by nearly a quarter, cutting $48 million each from their proposed budgets. The Oklahoma representative has requested some $50 billion in cuts to “woke, weaponized, and wasteful” government spending in acknowledgment of the nation’s purported debt of approximately $34 trillion, targeting environmental and endangered animal conservation efforts, the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts, and funding for Ukraine as well as the World Health Organization, among other recipients.
In his address to the Chamber, Brecheen argued that while “there’s nothing inherently wrong with artistic and humanities programs, Congress can’t continue to steadily increase spending year after year as our national debt continues to climb,” noting that the proposed reductions would bring funding back to pre-pandemic levels.
Breechen’s office has not responded to Hyperallergic‘s request for comment.
After Democratic Representative Chellie Pingree of Maine responded to Brecheen’s amendments, arguing that the NEA in particular “funds, promotes, and strengthens the creative capacity of our communities by providing all Americans diverse opportunities for arts participation,” it was determined by voice vote alone that the amendment would not pass.
However, Brecheen requested a recorded vote for the NEH cuts after the voice vote skewed against the proposed reductions — Representatives voted 269 to 147 (with 21 abstaining) to keep funding for the NEH intact.
“People were very pleased with bi-partisan support for the arts and humanities in light of everything that’s happening in the world right now,” said Nina Ozlu Tunceli, the executive director of the Art Actions Fund, in a phone call with Hyperallergic.
As of June 28, the House of Representatives has approved $203.9 million each to the NEA and the NEH, evenly distributing the Biden-Harris administration’s original allocations of $210 million for the arts and $200 million for the humanities. However, the figures point to a 2% budget cut from the 2024 fiscal year’s allocation of $207 million to both agencies.
Ozlu Tunceli noted to Hyperallergic that on Thursday morning, July 25, the Senate will engage in a full committee markup of appropriations for fiscal year 2025 that could potentially increase the figures approved by the House.
Ahead of the House session, arts alliances across the nation advocated for constituents to call on their representatives to vote no on the proposed budget cuts through phone call scripts and email templates outlining the benefits that both agencies bring locally and nationally.
Update 7/25/24 11:40am EST: During a full committee markup of the Fiscal Year 2025 appropriations bill this morning, July 25, the Senate approved allocations of $209 million each for the NEA and NEH — a $2 million increase from fiscal year 2024. The Senate also allotted $1.1 billion to the Smithsonian Institution.
