Trump Administration Disbands President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities
By Francisco SalazarThe Donald Trump administration has dissolved the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities.
The New York Times is reporting that the disbanding of the committee is part of the administration’s effort to roll back policies on art and culture. The disbandment happened in the convicted felon and now President’s first executive orders, issued on Inauguration Day.
The news went unnoticed as the president has been making headlines for his rollback of Trans rights and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the federal government, not to mention raising questions surrounding the constitutional right to birthright citizenship, immigration, and tariffs on Canada, Mexico, and China.
The committee was disbanded during Trump’s first term but reinstated by former President Joe Biden in 2022. According to the convicted felon, the committee was “not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.” The committee had an operating budget of approximately $335,000 and met six times before its final meeting on Jan. 9.
Established in 1982 by Republican President Ronald Reagan, the committee played a key role in shaping cultural policy, bringing together influential leaders from the worlds of art, politics, and academia. In the 1990s, the committee petitioned President Bill Clinton to restore funding for public arts education, to require high school students to have competency in a foreign language, and to expand tax incentives for cultural philanthropy. The committee was nonpartisan.
Read Related Stories
