Press Releases

Congresswoman Chellie Pingree (D-Maine), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Subcommittee that oversees the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, released a scathing statement in response to the Trump Administration's mass termination of National Endowment for the Humanities grants:

The abrupt termination of National Endowment for the Humanities grants across the country—executed under the guise of bureaucratic ‘efficiency’ by Elon Musk and DOGE—is devastating and outrageous.

For weeks, the Trump Administration has led a disturbing campaign to dismantle our country’s cultural and historical infrastructure: ousting experienced leadership and staff, installing political loyalists, censoring exhibitions, and all but eliminating the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Now, communities like ours in Maine are paying the price.

Let’s be clear: these grants were already awarded and use funds already appropriated by Congress on a bipartisan basis. The notion that these terminations are justified by a sudden shift in ‘federal priorities’ is nonsense. This is ideological targeting—pure and simple. And it is happening with no input from Congress or the public.

These actions directly endanger state humanities councils—like the exceptional Maine Humanities Council—that serve rural communities, support teachers and students, and keep our history alive. Shaker Village, the last active Shaker community in the world, has lost funding for a major restoration project currently in progress. The University of Maine is now stalled out on a critical project to digitize Franco American archival collections that speak to the history of countless Mainers. And those are just a couple examples. We risk losing irreplaceable cultural institutions forever.

This isn’t just fiscal mismanagement, it’s a deliberate campaign to silence voices, erase history, and dismantle the public’s access to culture and education.

As Ranking Member of the Appropriations Subcommittee responsible for funding the NEH and NEA, I will continue to demand answers, and I will not stand by while this administration wages a political war on our nation’s cultural fabric.

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