Bipartisan Arts Support in Congress

Last month, the Republican Party and President Donald Trump won a sweeping victory in the 2024 elections. President Trump was elected to a second term, while Republicans were able to win control of the Senate while maintaining a slim majority in the House of Representatives.

The result means that, for the first time since December 2018, Republicans will control both the legislative and executive branches of the federal government, and with it, the opportunity to enact a series of reforms. How the president-elect and his congressional allies will choose to spend their political capital at this time is unclear. Broadly, the president-elect has raised the prospect of tariffs and other measures he hopes will spur the economy.

However, his strategy for how he plans to shape his domestic agenda is yet to come in to view. Congress is currently back in Washington, where it hopes to extend funding for the federal government before it expires on December 20. That is expected to occur through a continuing resolution that will extend current funding levels for all federal agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), until sometime in the spring (early drafts have proposed a March/April time frame).

Should that occur, we likely will not know how the president-elect and his administration plan to shape their government, and their funding priorities, until they start working with the new Congress on a new funding package in January.

While much is not known at this time, it is quite possible that the new administration will propose eliminating or defunding the National Endowment for the Arts. Each of President Trump’s budget requests to Congress during his first term included this recommendation. Should that occur, it is important to note that each proposal to do so was roundly rejected by Congress, on a bipartisan basis, and that the agency actually received funding increases.

As you might imagine, we are spending a lot of time as an organization thinking about how to best represent state and jurisdictional arts agencies in this new environment. As we head into this period, there are several factors that I think are worth noting:

Rhetoric does not always mean action. Candidates running for President from both parties make statements about how they want to reshape the function of government in their image. Sometimes these statements are genuine, and other times they are intended to appeal to a faction of political constituents. Regardless, our government limits the power of the executive branch to reshape the government without the explicit support of Congress. In other words, no President has the ability or authority to eliminate any agency without Congress’s approval.
The National Endowment for the Arts has strong support by members of the Trump transition team and Republican leaders in Congress. While we are not aware of designs to eliminate funding for the arts at this time, it is an understandable concern. We are bolstered by knowing that members of Congress from both parties have stood up to challenges to the NEA’s authority, and the federal-state partnership, from actions by both Democratic and Republican administrations. And we fully expect that support to continue and strengthen.
We have a voice and role to play. As leaders of state agencies, we have the ability to be instrumental in supporting the Arts Endowment and the federal-state partnership, which allocates 40% of NEA grant funding to state and jurisdictional arts agencies and regional arts organizations. Our ability to connect federal funding to important work happening at the state and local levels has proved invaluable in convincing members of both parties of the return on investment that comes from public support of the arts.

As the new Congress begins, it will be imperative that we use our voice to make the case to members of Congress and the Trump administration about the tremendous value that is derived from federal support for the arts. In the coming weeks, NASAA will be meeting with the incoming leadership team for President Trump as well as Congress. We will report back regularly while working with you to develop the most effective messaging possible to support the arts.