AG Rayfield: These cuts don’t just break the law, they break faith with communities who rely on these programs to learn, reflect, and connect.

Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield is leading a coalition of states, urging a federal court to stop the Trump administration from gutting federal support for public humanities programs that serve communities nationwide. The coalition filed an amicus brief backing a lawsuit that challenges the National Endowment for the Humanities’ (NEH) abrupt cancellation of critical support for state humanities councils.

A hearing on the motion for preliminary injunction is scheduled for August 4 at 9 a.m. at the federal courthouse in Portland.

“These cuts don’t just break the law, they break faith with communities who rely on these programs to learn, reflect, and connect,” said Rayfield. “Oregon is proud to lead this effort because we know how vital the humanities are to civic life. People deserve better than a backdoor decision that wipes out decades of progress.”

The NEH’s “Fed/State Partnership” program—funded every year since 1972 and—was designed by Congress to ensure every state has access to high-quality, community-based humanities programming. But earlier this year, the NEH suddenly drastically reduced support for state humanities councils, forcing the councils to cancel programs, furlough staff, and scale back or eliminate educational offerings.

Oregon and the group of states are urging the court to issue a preliminary injunction halting the funding cuts while the litigation proceeds. The amicus brief, filed in the United States District Court for the District of Oregon, argues that the administration’s actions:

• Violate federal law by ignoring Congress’s statutory mandate to fund state humanities councils and by failing to follow required procedures for terminating grants
• Overstep constitutional boundaries, infringing on Congress’s power of the purse and violating the separation of powers and the Take Care Clause.
• Cause irreparable harm to state councils, local organizations, schools, and libraries that depend on NEH funding to deliver programs in civic education, cultural heritage, history, literature, and more.

One example in Oregon: the cuts already have paused Humanity in Perspective, a long-running program offering free college-credit humanities courses to adults facing economic hardship.

“These are not abstract programs—they’re real opportunities for people to engage in critical thinking, understand our shared history, and build stronger communities,” Rayfield said. “Congress chose to fund this work. Agencies can’t simply walk away from that responsibility.”

Attorney General Rayfield is co-leading this brief with the attorneys general of Maryland and Washington. Also joining the brief are attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Nevada New Mexico, Rhode Island, Wisconsin, Vermont, and the District of Columbia.