Trump Wants To Kill Federal Arts Funding. These Artists Are Standing Against Him.
In President Trump’s first federal budget plan, submitted this morning, one item has stood out to proponents of the arts: Trump’s call to cut all funding from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH).
The response has been swift, as over 200,000 Americans have joined PEN America, the Daily Kos, and a variety of other groups in a petition for Congress to reject that proposal. Among their number are comic artist Art Spiegelman, novelists including Neil Gaiman and Salman Rushdie, actor John Lithgow and singer-songwriter Rosanne Cash.
“Funding for the NEA and NEH each constitute only .003% of federal spending, an investment that supports some of the world’s greatest literature, art, and cultural institutions,” the petition reads. “Eliminating these vital agencies would lessen America’s stature as a haven for free thinkers and a global leader in humanity’s shared quest for knowledge.”
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.