White House fires much of the National Council on the Humanities

The White House on Wednesday abruptly fired a large share of the council members advising the National Endowment for the Humanities, retaining only four appointees of President Donald Trump, according to terminated members reached by The Washington Post and an updated list on the agency’s website.

“On behalf of President Donald J. Trump, I am writing to inform you that your position as a member of the National Council on the Humanities is terminated, effective immediately,” read an email sent to council members Wednesday morning, according to a copy reviewed by The Post. “Thank you for your service.”

The letter was signed by Mary Sprowls of the White House Presidential Personnel Office.

A White House spokesperson told The Post in an email that the president is “hoping to place members on the board who align more closely with his vision.”

The National Council on the Humanities, a board of 26 scholars and humanities leaders appointed by the president to six-year terms, advises the chair of the NEH on grantmaking, policy and funding decisions. Members are not salaried but receive some compensation for travel and time spent in meetings.

Before the government shutdown began Wednesday, the members were scheduled to attend a special meeting next week to submit nominations for the National Humanities Medal, consider three “sole source” grant applications and review statue proposals for Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes, according to a copy of the meeting notice reviewed by The Post.

By law, the council’s meetings require a quorum of 14, and new members must be confirmed by the Senate.

By late Wednesday morning, the council’s website had been updated to show only four members: Russell A. Berman, Keegan F. Callanan, William English and Matthew Rose.

Some of the members whose names were removed from the website had been appointed by Trump.

Claire McCaffery Griffin, a retired teacher brought on by Trump during his first administration, said she was surprised by how terse the email was. While noting she doesn’t know what went on behind the scenes, she said she’s disappointed that the White House did not appear to “take a more nuanced approach in making decisions,” adding, “I think I’ve been a pretty prudent steward of taxpayer dollars.”

Griffin said she was “really looking forward to playing a role and bringing some of the president’s vision” to life, pointing as an example to the National Garden of American Heroes, “something that I wholeheartedly supported.” She called the four still-listed council members “thoughtful and outstanding scholars” with whom she usually agreed.

Among other Trump appointees who were apparently fired, Marjorie Fisher could not immediately be reached for comment, and Kathe Hicks Albrecht declined to comment.

One member who was fired noted that the board now consists only of White men. “I’m not totally shocked,” said the person, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to discuss a personnel matter. “But at a time where we’re about to celebrate the country’s 250th birthday … we now have a council that does not reflect all Americans.”

The statute establishing the council says the president “shall give due regard to equitable representation of women, minorities, and individuals with disabilities” when selecting members.

The NEH did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Karen A. Stout, head of the community college group Achieving the Dream and a member of the council since 2022, learned of the news while speaking to a Post reporter. She said that as of early Wednesday afternoon, she had not yet received a notice of her apparent firing.

“This is just, frankly, very disappointing,” she said. “All of us, no matter who appointed us, were proud to serve on the council and were doing our best under both administrations to honor the work of the council and the direction of the administrations,” she said. “I never looked at my colleagues on the council as Trump or Obama or Biden appointees.”

Stout, the former president of Montgomery County Community College in Pennsylvania, said she’s seen the direct benefits of the council’s work in the college’s community and is concerned about what this move means for investments in the humanities moving forward.

“The council benefits from multiple perspectives,” she said, describing respectful conversations that reflected a diversity of opinions. She said the council had met twice since Trump returned to office.

“I just fear that there will not be that kind of discourse anymore. There will be one perspective,” she said.

The NEH was founded in 1965, alongside the National Endowment for the Arts, to support humanities initiatives across the country. While its budget is tiny relative to other federal agencies, state and jurisdictional humanities councils describe the funding it provides as crucial.

Trump has proposed eliminating the two endowment agencies, though Congress has so far declined to do so. In April, the NEH cut staff along with at least 1,200 grants, stripping millions of dollars of previously approved funding from State Humanities Councils, museums, historic sites, archives and cultural groups.

Federal courts have so far pushed back on key elements of the administration’s attempts to overhaul the agencies. Judges in July and August issued injunctions as lawsuits against the NEH’s mass cancellation of previously approved grants proceed. A court in September ruled that the NEA’s policy on evaluating grants for “gender ideology” violated the First Amendment.

In April, NEH acting chair Michael McDonald told members of the National Council that some NEH and NEA funds would be directed to the president’s proposed National Garden of American Heroes, as well as next year’s celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the country’s founding.

The agency has since made fewer grants, in some cases large awards to projects aligned with the semiquincentennial or the administration’s cultural agenda. Last month it awarded $10.4 million, its largest grant ever, to Tikvah, a think tank and education center that describes its mission as advancing “Jewish excellence and Western civilization through education & ideas.”