The United States Senate voted today to confirm Mary Anne Carter as chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA). It will be Carter's second time leading the agency, after serving as NEA chair during President Donald Trump’s first term.
Carter succeeds Maria Rosario Jackson, a Biden appointee who resigned from the post on January 20.
Carter will take the helm at a difficult moment for the NEA, which spent much of the past year pulling funding from the literary arts in response to pressure from President Trump. It most recently announced 50 grants for projects highlighting "American Heroes" listed by Trump in an executive order, of which only two had to do with literature.
In her first term as chair, Carter defended the NEA against Trump's attempt to shutter the organization, campaigning for the educational value of the Big Read, Poetry Out Loud, and other national literary programs. Her new initiatives largely focused on expanding support for veterans through creative arts therapies as a part of the Creative Forces program, which she indicated she would continue in her second term.
“I am committed to advancing the vision that the arts belong to all Americans, no matter who they are or where they live," Carter said. "The arts are essential to creating, innovating, healing, and recovery, and they provide vital economic stability to communities across the nation. I look forward to the many celebrations that will take place in 2026 in honor of America’s 250th anniversary, as well as to the agency’s continued research into the powerful role the arts play in healing—from illness to trauma to natural disasters.”
