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Hello Cultural Partners,
We are writing today to address the federal threats to vital cultural work that furiously erupted this week and, then, quickly dissipated. On Monday, President Trump's administration directed federal agencies and departments to freeze federal funding, inclusive of all programs that provide "grants, loans, and federal assistance." Although most news articles called out the impacts on foreign aid and federal lifelines like food assistance, the freeze did encompass cultural funding like NEA, NEH, IMLS, and other programs. Read more by clicking on the links below. Why did they do this? The administration aimed to review all spending and potentially eliminate anything that doesn't line up with the President's priorities "to the extent allowed by law." On Jan 28th, U.S. District Judge Loren AliKhan temporarily blocked President Donald Trump from imposing the sweeping pause on trillions of dollars in federal spending. The order prevented the new restrictions from taking effect until at least Feb. 3. Then, just today, the President has now rescinded the order but we believe this is a pause versus a victory.
This far-reaching directive created a lot of confusion and financial turmoil for businesses, families, and individuals. Across Washington state, many of our cultural partners have active federal contracts and pending grant awards or count on local funding that is sourced from the federal government. If this threat returns, we stand ready to advocate.
The interests and urgent needs of Washington's cultural programming direct our advocacy work and we will passionately pursue solutions for and with you!
We've been in conversation with Washington's Congressional delegation, and they asked us to collect information on any funding that may be in jeopardy if the administration enacts a funding freeze. If you receive federal support, please fill out this survey. We encourage you to share this with other cultural providers in your network that may be affected. We are only collecting information on cultural funding.
It's important for us to be prepared. This is just the inquiry phase of our advocacy work. We want to know what programs may be affected, the jobs that are threatened, and the potential disruption to programming that your community members count on. Stay tuned!
In solidarity,
Manny Cawaling and Inspire Washington Team
Reference links:
Funding Freeze Memo from the Office of Management and Business
Senator Murray & Rep. DeLauro's letter to administration on funding freeze
Roll Call: Trump's White House orders freeze on federal funding
Roll Call: States, non-profit groups file lawsuits to stop grant freeze
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