The Arts, Entertainment, and Media Industries (AEMI) coalition within the Department for Professional Employees (DPE) released a statement on Wednesday condemning the Trump administration’s budget proposal calling for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for Humanities (NEH) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).
The coalition is made up of 12 national unions that represent workers in the arts, entertainment, and media industries, and is led by DPE. Trump’s 2026 budget request calls for the wholesale elimination of the NEA, NEH and CPB, as well as other federal and regional cultural agencies.
“Unions are prepared to fight back again against efforts to eliminate the NEA, NEH, and CPB,” said the AEMI coalition. “Nonprofit arts, humanities, and public media enjoy broad, bipartisan public support because they power local economies in every state and expand access to quality artistic and educational content across communities….Private money cannot fully replace federal funding. Eliminating the NEA, NEH, or CPB will lead to the loss of good, middle-class jobs.”