Oregon Humanities lawsuit against federal government moves forward

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – A judge granted a preliminary injunction in the lawsuit filed by Oregon Humanities against the federal government for abruptly cutting its funding.

Oregon Humanities and the Federation of State Humanities Councils jointly filed the lawsuit in federal court in May after the Department of Government Efficiency suddenly terminated grants for the National Endowment for the Humanities, which forced them to suspend some programming and cut staff.

“This is one step — among many that are needed — in the large, ongoing endeavor to knit our communities and the country closer together,” Oregon Humanities Executive Director Adam Davis said.

Davis said this is good news for two reasons. First, it means the lawsuit can move forward. The second is that the funds that were previously designated by Congress for humanities cannot be spent on other things.

Oregon Humanities was already approved for grants from November 2022 to October 2027, as well as another grant awarded in January 2025. The organization spent the money, expecting to be reimbursed. They still have not received the funding.

“Humanities councils are still operating without their Congressionally appropriated funds, and many have already laid off staff and cancelled vital programs as a result,” said Phoebe Stein, President of the Federation of State Humanities Councils.

“This is an important victory on a long road to ensuring states and territories get the resources that Congress intended for humanities programming in local communities,” she said. “We are hopeful that this judgement will prevail in any further litigation of this case.”

Under a federal and state partnership, Oregon Humanities distributes funding to projects throughout the state. The money supports things like libraries in rural areas such as Newport and Forest Grove, indigenous storytelling projects, free classes for adults near the poverty line, and more.

Lately, they’ve been focused on training facilitators to host conversations across many of the state’s rural libraries ahead of the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. The activities will focus on topics such as equality and the pursuit of happiness with the goal of helping neighbors deepen their understanding of one another.

“The more certainty we have about funding, the more likely it is that that’s a fully robust, statewide set of programs,” Davis said.

Oregon Humanities was forced to suspend many of its offerings after federal support was terminated in April, but Davis is hopeful they may be able to restart them in the future.

“I doubt we’ll be moving back into a state of so much certainty that we can rehire staff, but I do think we’ll be able to fund some grants around the state and restart some programs,” he said.

But the timeline is uncertain, and future funding will depend on the 2026 federal budget. Davis said he hopes to have greater clarity by October. If not, Oregon Humanities will lean on some of its other sources of support. Those include things like individual donations, foundation funds, state support or charging a small fee for some of the training services they provide.

“Between those other four sources of income, or if we see a very large increase in individual support, that might mean we can open up grants again,” he said.