WASHINGTON, D.C. — A federal judge ruled on May 1, 2026, that the termination of more than 1,400 National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grants was unconstitutional, prompting the agency to begin reinstating the canceled awards in June 2026. The court found that the grant terminations violated the First and Fifth Amendments.

The terminated grants totaled over $100 million. The NEH requires recipients to complete a 'Reinstatement Assurances Form' to revive their grants. This form asks grant recipients to evaluate their organization's intent and capacity to resume the project and inquire about changes in key personnel.

The NEH permits a three-month restart period for recipients to reassemble staff, re-engage partners, or reestablish project infrastructure. The agency states it will process reinstatements for organizations and individuals in the order they are received, a process that may take several months.

The Department of Government Efficiency and the NEH canceled these grants in April 2025. Staff from the Department of Government Efficiency used a large language model to help determine which grants violated executive orders on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Michael McDonald served as the acting chair of the NEH from March 2025 to January 2026. The Trump administration terminated two-thirds of the NEH workforce by April 2025.

The American Council of Learned Societies and the Modern Language Association (MLA) filed lawsuits against the grant cancellations. The NEH canceled roughly $90,000 in grants to the MLA in April 2025. One such grant was intended to support a meeting about assessing current and future data projects in the humanities, which the MLA put on hold.

Paula Krebs, Executive Director of the Modern Language Association, said, "The restoration comes a year late for everybody—more than a year late." The MLA paid for a virtual workshop for language and literature teachers at small and midsize colleges and will now ask the NEH for reimbursement for this workshop. Krebs added that "People's careers depend on access to this kind of research support."