Trump pushes out National Endowment for the Humanities chair, official says
President Trump directed National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) Chair Shelly Lowe to step down from her role, which she has now done, an agency spokesperson confirmed Thursday morning.
The spokesperson, Paula Wasley, said in an email to The Hill that Lowe “has departed her position” at the “direction” of the president.
In the meantime, Trump has designated Michael McDonald, who has served as the NEH’s general counsel, to serve as the agency's acting chair until “such time as the President nominates and the Senate confirms a new NEH Chairman,” Wasley said.
Lowe, a Navajo Nation member, was the first Native American to lead the NEH, a federal agency that was founded in 1965 and is focused on funding the humanities.
The federal agency has dished out more than $6 billion in grants to colleges, universities, museums, libraries, radio stations, historic sites, research institutions and affiliated organizations around the country, according to its website.
The NEH says the grants help “examine the human condition, promote civics education, understand our cultural heritage, foster mutual respect for diverse beliefs and cultures, and develop media and information literacy.”
In 2024, the NEH received $207 million in funding.
Lowe’s departure comes as Trump has looked to overhaul some cultural institutions since taking the Oval Office in January as he moves to slash government spending he considers unnecessary or in violation of his anti-diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies.
Trump announced last month that he would remove appointees from the Kennedy Center board in Washington, D.C., and he named himself the chair of the cultural institution. The changes at the center spurred several stars to cut ties with the center.
The president signed an executive order in January that would help eradicate DEI programs across the federal government, with Cabinet members carrying out the order in various ways.
The NEH chair serves a four-year term.
Lowe was nominated by former President Biden in 2021. She was confirmed by the Senate in early 2022.
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