Following reports that the outgoing Trump administration is destroying presidential records and ignoring the law when using non-official electronic devices to conduct official business, U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) on Thursday introduced the Promoting Accountability and Security in Transition (PAST) Act, to clarify and enhance existing law with regards to presidential transition and presidential records. Congressman Mike Quigley (IL-05) more >

Senators Chris Coons (D-DE) and John Cornyn (R-TX) have introduced the “Educating for Democracy Act of 2020.” It is the companion bill to one introduced in September by Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) and Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) which will significantly increase federal financial support for history and civics education. Click here to see a summary more >

National Coalition for History member organizations, the National Security Archive, the Society for Historians of American Foreign Relations, and the American Historical Association, joined with the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in filing suit against President Donald Trump in his official capacity, seeking to enforce the Presidential Records Act and prevent any more >

The Senate Appropriations Committee has released all twelve of its draft FY 21 appropriations bills. In general, the Senate levels are close to, or slightly less than, the House. We have prepared a chart detailing the Senate numbers compared to the House and president’s budget request. Here are the highlights. We will be providing funding more >

The chairs of 21 House committees have sent letters to the White House counsel and 53 federal government agencies reaffirming their responsibility under federal law to preserve their records, in particular those relating to investigations of the Trump administration. The letter states, “Over the last four years, the Administration obstructed numerous congressional investigations by refusing more >

The House of Representatives has passed ten of the twelve FY 21 appropriations bills and rejected the president’s proposed budget cuts across-the-board. As a result, we have the final House numbers for most agencies and programs that affect history, archives, humanities, and education.

Our colleagues at the National Humanities Alliance (NHA) have issued a legislative alert seeking additional funding for the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) in the next round of COVID-19 assistance legislation Congress is expected to consider soon. NCH has been working closely with NHA throughout the pandemic in supporting increased federal funding for the humanities community. The NEH more >

Listed below are links to federal financial resources related to the COVID-19 Pandemic. Be sure to check these sites often since the information is being updated constantly. Note: Congress is expected to pass legislation related to small business funding shortly. Given how quickly funding from the last relief bill was depleted, you must apply ASAP! more >

Today the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) 2018 assessment of US eight-graders proficiency in US History, civics and geography was released. Scores in all three subjects decreased since the last time the assessment was conducted in 2014.

Below are links to the COVID-19 resources available from history and archival-related federal agencies. It also includes a link to the Small Business Administration’s COVID-19 page detailing the financial loan programs they have available. Small Business Administration https://www.sba.gov/page/coronavirus-covid-19-small-business-guidance-loan-resources National Archives https://www.archives.gov/coronavirus National Park Service https://www.nps.gov/coronavirus National Endowment for the Humanities https://www.neh.gov/news/information-neh-and-covid-19 Institute of Museum and more >