Trump Administration Dissolves President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities

The Trump administration has disbanded the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities as part of a broader effort to roll back policies on art and culture from the previous administration, according to The New York Times.

This move was included in one of President Trump’s first executive orders, issued on Inauguration Day, which rescinded more than two dozen “harmful executive orders and actions” implemented by former President Joseph R. Biden Jr.

While Trump’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives within the federal government has drawn significant attention, the dissolution of the nonpartisan arts committee has gone largely unnoticed. The White House made no official announcement, and at some point, the committee’s website was taken down.

The committee has long been a target of Trump, having been previously disbanded during his first term before being reinstated by Biden in 2022. Trump defended the decision, stating that the committee was “not a responsible way to spend American tax dollars.”

After its revival, President Biden appointed 31 members to the committee in April 2023. Co-chaired by singer Lady Gaga and producer Bruce Cohen, the group included notable figures such as George Clooney, Jon Batiste, and Shonda Rhimes, as well as museum curators, academics, and leaders from the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Smithsonian.

Operating with an annual budget of approximately $335,000, the committee met six times before its final meeting on January 9.

Steve Israel, a former Democratic U.S. representative from New York and committee member, criticized Trump’s decision.

“Not only did he fire us all, but he disbanded the actual committee,” Israel said. “It suggests a proactive hostility toward the arts and humanities.”

Established in 1982 by 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. Past members included singer Frank Sinatra, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, former Warner Bros. chairman Terry Semel, and former Goldman Sachs partner Robert Menschel.