National Council on African American History and Culture Act of 2026
Summary
What This Bill Does
This bill creates a National Council on African American History and Culture within the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Council has 12 presidentially appointed, Senate-confirmed private citizens with expertise or commitment to preserving and celebrating African American history and culture. Membership must consider representation of women, people of color, people with disabilities, humanities scholars, practitioners, and the public, and must be evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. The President names a chair and vice chair from different parties. Members serve staggered five-year terms, receive compensation at 50 percent of the senior-level daily rate plus travel expenses, and need nine members for a quorum. The Council must meet at least twice yearly, report annually to the NEH Chair, monitor museums and organizations, evaluate NEH programs, recommend national policies, and provide studies and recommendations requested by the Chair. Advisory committee termination rules do not apply, but the Council sunsets 10 years after enactment.
Who Benefits and How
African American history organizations, museums, humanities scholars, cultural preservation practitioners, NEH program staff, and communities interested in African American history benefit from a dedicated advisory body, annual reporting, program evaluation, and policy recommendations.
Who Bears the Burden and How
The President, Senate, National Endowment for the Humanities, Council members, and NEH administrative staff must manage appointments, bipartisan membership, compensation, travel, quorum rules, meetings, annual reports, requested studies, and the 10-year sunset.
Key Provisions
- Establishes the National Council on African American History and Culture within the National Endowment for the Humanities.
- Requires 12 Senate-confirmed private-citizen members with expertise or commitment to African American history and culture.
- Requires bipartisan membership, staggered terms, member compensation, travel expenses, a nine-member quorum, and at least two meetings each year.
- Directs annual reports, NEH program evaluations, policy recommendations, museum and organization monitoring, and requested studies.
- Exempts the Council from ordinary advisory-committee termination rules and sunsets it 10 years after enactment.
Evidence Chain:
This summary is generated from the full bill text using AI analysis. Expand "Detailed Analysis" below for identified beneficiaries/burden bearers with clause-level evidence links.
At a Glance
What This Bill Does
Establishes a 12-member Senate-confirmed National Council on African American History and Culture inside the National Endowment for the Humanities for annual reporting, policy recommendations, and program evaluation over a 10-year term.
Key Policy Areas
Culture, Education, Civil Rights, Government Operations
Primary Purpose
Establishes a 12-member Senate-confirmed National Council on African American History and Culture inside the National Endowment for the Humanities for annual reporting, policy recommendations, and program evaluation over a 10-year term.
Policy Domains
Substantive provisions
Identified Gains
- African American history organizations
- Museums preserving African American history
- Humanities scholars
- NEH program staff
- Cultural preservation practitioners
Identified Costs
- President of the United States
- Senate confirmation process
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Council members
- NEH administrative staff
Sponsors
Legislative Progress
In CommitteeReferred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
Introduced in House
Mr. Mfume (for himself, Ms. Tlaib, Ms. Lee of Pennsylvania, …
Stakeholder Effects
cui bono?How this legislation distributes effects. Mention counts reflect frequency, not effect magnitude.
Council members, National Endowment for the Humanities, Senate confirmation process
Positive-direction: Council members
Negative-direction: National Endowment for the Humanities, Senate confirmation process
Humanities scholars, Museums preserving African American history
Bill Structure & Actor Mappings
Who is "The Secretary" in each section?
- "NEH"
- → National Endowment for the Humanities
- "Council"
- → National Council on African American History and Culture
We use a combination of our own taxonomy and classification in addition to large language models to assess meaning and potential beneficiaries. High confidence means strong textual evidence. Always verify with the original bill text.
Learn more about our methodology