On May 2, 2025, the Trump administration released its FY2026 “skinny budget” proposal, calling for the complete elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and Institute of Museum and Library Services. The proposal also indicated a 15% cut to the Department of Education, with plans to consolidate multiple K-12 grant programs. Arts advocates warn that eliminating federal arts funding would devastate cultural organizations and reduce access to arts education nationwide.

On May 1, 2025, President Trump signed an executive order directing the Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cease all direct and indirect federal funding to NPR and PBS, citing alleged political bias. The order affects approximately 1,500 local public radio and television stations nationwide that rely on CPB funding for educational and cultural programming, particularly in rural and underserved communities. CPB, PBS, and NPR have stated the order is unlawful, arguing that CPB is a congressionally created independent entity not subject to presidential authority, and filed suits on first amendment and other grounds. The Corporation for Public Broadcasting distributes approximately $535 million annually in federal funds to public media.

On April 2, 2025, U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) updated its Policy Manual to recognize only two “biological sexes”—male and female—based on birth certificates issued at or near time of birth, pursuant to Executive Order 14168 “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” signed January 20, 2025. The policy eliminates the “X” gender marker option and requires all immigration benefit applications to indicate sex as male or female based on birth records. The policy directly impacts transgender and nonbinary artists, including US citizens and those applying for O-1, P-1, P-3, and other work visas. Canadian musician Bells Larsen, whose album explores trans experience, canceled his June 2025 U.S. tour after receiving guidance from the American Federation of Musicians that applicants with gender markers changed from birth certificates would face visa difficulties. The policy applies to all pending and new applications filed on or after April 2, 2025.

El 27 de marzo de 2025, el presidente Trump emitió la Orden Ejecutiva 14253 titulada «Restaurar la verdad y la cordura a la historia estadounidense», en la que ordenaba a la Institución Smithsonian retirar las exposiciones y programas que se consideraran que contenían «ideología inadecuada» o contenidos que «despreciaran de forma inapropiada a los estadounidenses». La orden citaba específicamente «La forma del poder: historias de raza y escultura estadounidense» en el Museo Smithsonian de Arte Estadounidense como ejemplo de contenido divisivo, alegando que retrataba los valores estadounidenses y occidentales como «intrínsecamente dañinos y opresivos». La orden instruía al vicepresidente y a la Oficina de Gestión y Presupuesto a colaborar con el Congreso para garantizar que las futuras asignaciones presupuestarias al Smithsonian prohibieran el gasto en exposiciones o programas que «degraden los valores estadounidenses compartidos, dividan a los estadounidenses por motivos raciales o promuevan programas o ideologías incompatibles con la legislación y la política federal». Historiadores, profesionales de museos y miembros del Congreso condenaron la directiva como una censura política de las instituciones culturales financiadas con fondos federales y una violación de la independencia del Smithsonian para llevar a cabo su misión educativa.

In 2025, Rep. Andrew Clyde (R-GA) introduced legislation threatening to withhold at least $185 million in federal transportation funds from Washington, D.C. unless the city removed the “Black Lives Matter” mural and renamed the plaza “Liberty Plaza.” Mayor Muriel Bowser announced on March 4 that the city would paint over the mural, and removal began March 10, with the mayor stating the city could not “afford to be distracted by meaningless congressional interference.” Critics characterized the funding threat as federal coercion to suppress local artistic and political expression.

On February 14, 2025, the National Park Service removed all references to “transgender” and “queer” from the Stonewall National Monument website, changing “LGBTQ+” to “LGB” and erasing mentions of transgender activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera who were central to the 1969 uprising. The Park Service stated the changes were made to comply with Trump executive orders on “restoring biological truth to the federal government.” The Stonewall Inn and LGBTQ+ advocacy groups condemned the action as a “blatant act of erasure” that distorts the history of the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ+ rights and dishonors transgender contributions to the movement. Weeks later, the NPS also removed entire web pages dedicated to transgender activists from the site.

On February 7, President Trump announced he would dismiss 18 members of the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees and appoint himself as chairman, marking the first time a president has mass-fired board members or assumed leadership of the prestigious performing arts institution. Trump stated the center had featured “drag shows specifically targeting our youth” and vowed “NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA,” installing Richard Grenell as interim executive director to reshape programming. Following the takeover, the Kennedy Center canceled LGBTQ+ programming including WorldPride concerts and performances by the Gay Men’s Chorus, and dismantled the Social Impact team focused on serving underserved communities. This move imposes an unprecedented degree of government oversight onto the curatorial decisions of the Kennedy Center, and has already resulted in the discriminatory cancellation of artist groups out of favor with the Presidential administration.

On February 7, 2025 President Trump fired Colleen Shogan as head of the National Archives and Records Administration, marking the first time a sitting president has removed the National Archivist since the position was established in the 1930s. The firing represented an unprecedented assertion of presidential authority over an independent federal agency responsible for preserving and presenting American historical records and cultural heritage. While Trump cited the Archives’ role in the classified documents investigation, the removal occurred amid ongoing controversy over Shogan’s October 2024 directive to staff to remove or minimize exhibits on slavery, civil rights leaders, Japanese-American internment, and Indigenous displacement. Historians and civil rights organizations condemned the firing as political interference in a nonpartisan cultural institution responsible for safeguarding the nation’s historical record.

In response to Executive Order 14151 (January 20, 2025), which mandated termination of all federal DEI programs and equity-related grants, the NEA cancelled its Challenge America grant program on February 6, 2025. Challenge America had supported small arts organizations serving underserved communities. The NEA revised its 2026 grant guidelines to prohibit DEI programs and “gender ideology,” prioritize America250 projects, and require a five-year organizational history. Organizations with pending applications were required to resubmit under the new criteria. Critics condemned the changes as censorship that imposed ideological conditions on arts funding. The ACLU and several other organizations filed suit against the NEA over its cancellation of funding arguing that The lawsuit argues that the grant-guidance restrictions—particularly the requirement that applicants avoid “promoting gender ideology”—unconstitutionally violate the First Amendment and exceed the agency’s lawful authority.

La Orden Ejecutiva 14188, firmada el 29 de enero de 2025, ordenaba a las agencias federales identificar a las autoridades encargadas de combatir el antisemitismo e incluía disposiciones para que las universidades supervisaran e informaran sobre las actividades de los estudiantes no ciudadanos que pudieran dar lugar a procedimientos de expulsión. El texto de la orden no restringe explícitamente la libertad artística ni ordena deportaciones. Sin embargo, las autoridades federales han utilizado la orden como pretexto para restringir la expresión legítima y pacífica de los estudiantes que participan en protestas en los campus. Las autoridades revocaron más de 1500 visados de estudiantes internacionales en al menos 32 estados y detuvieron a varios estudiantes que participaban en manifestaciones a favor de Palestina. Las organizaciones de libertades civiles han impugnado estas medidas por considerarlas violaciones inconstitucionales de los derechos de libertad de expresión y de reunión.

President Trump signed an executive order requiring federal contractors and grantees, cultural institutions, to certify that they do not operate DEI programs that violate federal anti-discrimination laws. The order revoked longstanding affirmative action requirements for federal contractors and directed agencies to combat DEI initiatives in the private sector. Critics warned the order’s vague language would create a chilling effect on diversity programming and cultural perspectives in federally funded institutions. The executive order has been challenged in court on the grounds that its restrictions on DEI-related programs and requirements for “merit-based” practices unlawfully suppress protected expression and discriminate against organizations engaging in equity-focused work.

El presidente Trump firmó una orden ejecutiva que elimina las protecciones federales para la identidad de género en la educación, la salud y los programas culturales. Se ordenó a las agencias que definieran el sexo «estrictamente como biológico», lo que provocó la eliminación de políticas inclusivas en museos, bibliotecas y espacios culturales financiados por el gobierno federal. La orden restringe la financiación de cualquier cosa que utilice el término «ideología de género» o que se refiera al «género» en lugar del «sexo», lo que limitará las instituciones artísticas y culturales, así como las ONG artísticas, ya que se trata de términos comunes en los proyectos artísticos y en la investigación sobre historia del arte. Las organizaciones LGBTQ+ advirtieron que esto enfriaría la expresión artística y pública vinculada a la identidad queer. En febrero de 2025, la Liga Urbana Nacional presentó una demanda contra la Orden Ejecutiva 14168, argumentando que las restricciones de la administración a las políticas de DEI y de identidad de género violan las protecciones de los derechos civiles y los derechos de libertad de expresión.