Three groups filed amicus briefs in the US Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit backing the American Historical Association (AHA), American Oversight, Freedom of the Press Foundation, and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) in their fight to stop the Trump administration from evading the Presidential Records Act (PRA). [Read more…] about New Amicus Briefs Back Fight to Protect Presidential Records
American Historical Association
Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Disregarding Presidential Records Act
On Wednesday, May 20, 2026, the US District Court for the District of Columbia granted emergency relief in the American Historical Association and American Oversight’s lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s effort to evade the Presidential Records Act (PRA).
The injunction, which takes effect at 9 am on Tuesday, May 26, enjoins the White House Office, the National Security Council, the US DOGE Service, and all advisors to the president to comply in full with the PRA. [Read more…] about Judge Blocks Trump Administration from Disregarding Presidential Records Act
Federal Judge Restores NEH Grants; NY History Community Legal Fights Continue
On May 7, 2026, Judge Colleen McMahon, a senior judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York, ruled that the mass termination by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) of more than 1,400 grants to support scholars, research institutions, and humanities organizations was “unlawful, unconstitutional, ultra vires [a Latin term meaning “beyond the powers”], and without legal effect.”
The decision is one of several issued recently in important lawsuits brought by members of the history and humanities communities of New York State. [Read more…] about Federal Judge Restores NEH Grants; NY History Community Legal Fights Continue
Watchdog, Historians Sue to Block Trump Effort to Evade Presidential Records Law
American Oversight and the American Historical Association have filed suit challenging a sweeping memorandum from the Department of Justice’s Office of Legal Counsel that declared the Presidential Records Act is unconstitutional and that President Donald Trump “need not further comply” with its requirements, effectively encouraging the president to violate federal law.
The lawsuit argues that the memo relies on virtually no judicial authority and defies binding U.S. Supreme Court precedent outright, representing what they say is “a radical attempt to nullify a law that has governed presidential records for nearly half a century.” [Read more…] about Watchdog, Historians Sue to Block Trump Effort to Evade Presidential Records Law
First Amendment Win in Decision to Make DOGE DEI Videos Public
The American Council of Learned Societies, the American Historical Association, and the Modern Language Association are welcoming a ruling Tuesday by Judge Colleen McMahon allowing video footage of depositions that went viral to be published online again.
The depositions are evidence in a lawsuit to restore the function and funding of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). The organizations sued to halt the unlawful dismantling of the NEH, which included the cutting of grants and staffing by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). [Read more…] about First Amendment Win in Decision to Make DOGE DEI Videos Public
American Historical Association Files Brief in Support of Foreign Scholars
Using visa revocations and similar actions to stifle foreign scholars’ political speech is a violation of the First Amendment, according to an amicus brief filed by the American Historical Association (AHA), in collaboration with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW).
The brief is in support of Harvard University’s lawsuit against the federal government over the university’s ability to host foreign scholars and students. Seventeen other scholarly humanities organizations joined the AHA on the brief, which was filed with the Court of Appeals for the First Circuit. [Read more…] about American Historical Association Files Brief in Support of Foreign Scholars
Is There Anything New in History?
Is there anything new in history? Of course there is! Anyone follows the New York Almanack or the announcements and Historian’s Notes on the Office of State History’s site sees new and exciting developments in New York’s robust history community every day.
But here are a few things – all except the first from beyond New York – which haven’t received much attention that might be of interest to the state’s history community: [Read more…] about Is There Anything New in History?
Historians Issue Statement On Domestic Terrorism, Racism, and History
The oldest and largest society of historians and professors of history in the United States, the American Historical Association (AHA), has issued a statement condemning “the recent deployment of histories invented in the interest of bigotry, violence, and division.”
“If the statements of white nationalists do not reflect who Americans are or want to be,” the statement says, “they do compose an undeniable part of our collective past. Those aspects of the nation’s heritage should be exposed and overcome, rather than ignored or celebrated. Knowledge of history can help Americans achieve that goal.”
[Read more…] about Historians Issue Statement On Domestic Terrorism, Racism, and History