The Trump administration laid off approximately 100 employees from the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) on June 10, part of a broader reduction in force that has left fewer than 60 staff remaining at the agency. The cuts follow earlier funding freezes and a $65 million budget reduction by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), with funds redirected to President Trump’s National Garden of American Heroes. The NEH’s union, the American Federation of Government Employees Local 3403, has condemned the restructuring as an existential threat to institutions that rely on NEH grants for research, preservation, and education.
These layoffs matter because the NEH has awarded over $6 billion in grants since 1965, supporting museums, universities, libraries, and historical sites across the United States. The dismantling of the agency—alongside proposed elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the Institute of Museum and Library Services in the 2026 federal budget—signals a severe reduction in federal support for cultural heritage and humanities. The cuts also reflect broader trends in government downsizing, with 260,000 federal civilian workers laid off so far, and ongoing political tensions between President Trump and former DOGE head Elon Musk.