Thursday, August 28, 2025

Dance Worker Digest | August 2025

By Dance/NYC

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Dance Worker Digest
August 2025

This month’s Dance Worker Digest covers a wave of federal actions with major implications for arts and immigrant communities. From a new executive order on federal grantmaking to proposals for NEA funding, the Trump administration and Congress are reshaping cultural policy and public spending. We also cover the administration’s lawsuit against New York City’s sanctuary protections and a sweeping spending and tax bill that cuts essential services for millions of Americans.

New Trump Executive Order Tightens Oversight of Federal Grantmaking

A large stack of legislation on a U.S. Presidential deck

A new Trump executive order provides new guidelines on federal grantmaking, impacting dance organizations that receive federal funding through the National Endowment for the Arts or otherwise. Some of the key provisions of the order include:

• requiring plain language for grant applications, reducing some barriers
• requiring grant awards to “demonstrably advance the President’s policy priorities”
• barring grant awards from being used to “promote anti-American values,” with programs that support anti-racism, transgender rights, and immigration being especially vulnerable
• giving federal agencies the authority to end already given grant awards for convenience, not just for noncompliance
• increasing reporting requirements needed to receive already awarded grant money

Taken together, these provisions expand political influence over arts funding, add new administrative burdens for organizations, and put equity-focused programs at heightened risk of losing support, potentially reinforcing inequities in the arts sector.

Photo credit: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Congress Begins Process to Determine National Endowment for the Arts Funding

Congress has begun its appropriations process, deciding funding for many federal agencies including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH)—both vital to dance and other arts organizations nationwide.

The U.S. House has proposed $135 million for each agency, a 35% cut from current levels. The U.S. Senate has proposed $207 million, maintaining level funding. This comes after the Trump administration's call to eliminate the NEA, the termination of many existing NEA grants, and the defunding and shutdown of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting—part of a broader pattern of attacks on public arts and humanities infrastructure.

In September, Congress will will negotiate a final budget. In recent years, the final number has matched the Senate's proposal, meaning advocates have a strong opportunity to protect current funding levels. Dance/NYC will share more advocacy resources in September to protect the NEA and NEH.

Photo credit: Graeme Sloan/Sipa USA/Alamy Live News

Trump Administration Sues NYC Over Sanctuary City and Other Immigrant Rights Protections

Image of people walking on a Manhattan street

In late July, the Trump administration sued New York City over sanctuary city laws, which limit cooperation between city officials and federal immigration enforcement. This case is part of a broader series of administration lawsuits targeting sanctuary policies, including ongoing challenges in Los Angeles and an unsuccessful one Chicago.

The suit is one of three currently aimed at New York’s immigrant rights protections. Others target the Green Light Law, which allows all New Yorkers—regardless of immigration status—to obtain a drivers’ license, and the Protect our Courts Act, which is bars ICE from staking out state courthouses (but not federal ones, where most NYC arrests have occurred). These legal challenges come amid Mayor Adams’s attacks on sanctuary laws.

For now, all three protections remain in place. Civil rights groups are actively defending them in court, while immigration organizers and advocates are pushing for a special legislative session for the passage of the New York for All Act, which would expand sanctuary protections statewide.

Congress Passes Major Spending and Tax Bill, Slashing Essential Services

U.S. Capitol building in DC, captured at night.

In July, Congress passed the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” cutting essential services for working-class communities while approving $3.3 trillion in tax cuts that disproportionately benefit the most wealthy households. While the bill's impacts are far-reaching, several provisions directly affect dance workers and our communities. Overall, the bill advances cultural and economic priorities that risk deepening inequities in arts funding and access, while sidelining the needs of working artists and communities.

Healthcare: The bill approves the largest cuts to Medicaid and Medicare ever, which the Congressional Budget Office estimates will cause 16 million Americans to lose their healthcare coverage.

Food security: The bill cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, causing an estimated 22 million families to lose some or all SNAP benefits.

Immigration: The bill provides more than $150 billion for immigration enforcement while rolling back asylum and child welfare protections.

Nonprofits: The bill is estimated to reduce resources available to nonprofit organizations by disincentivizing charitable giving, which will significantly affect the nonprofit dance sector.

Review the impact on nonprofits

Arts and culture: The bill directs $40 million toward Trump’s “Garden of Heroes,” conceived in response to the removal of Confederate statues, and allocates $250 million to the “Make Kennedy Center Great Again” initiative. It also limits access to arts education by making some lower-earning degree programs ineligible for federal student loan support, disproportionately affecting students pursuing arts degrees.

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