Wisconsin nonprofits, libraries & museums scrambling as DOGE cuts funding for humanities

GREEN BAY (WLUK) — More federal cuts from the Trump administration and the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) are impacting people and organizations across the country, and right here in Wisconsin.

Funding for state affiliates of the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), which provides grants to non-profits, will soon be gone.

Wisconsin Humanities is an affiliate of NEH. They were receiving $1.2 million a year -- roughly 85% of their budget -- to help fund educational and cultural organizations throughout the Badger State. Now, it's all going away.

"Without those funds, we will not be able to support those grants and we expect to be issuing layoff notices to all of my staff, including me, possibly as soon as this week, and be shutting down potentially as soon as June," Wisconsin Humanities Executive Director Dena Wortzel said.

Wortzel found out about the cuts April 3. Wisconsin Humanities has existed for 50 years and helps hundreds of libraries, museums and other non-profit organizations stay afloat each year.

"Our matching grants help people in communities really learn and grow together, building connections to each other that save us when disaster strikes and week-to-week, make Green Bay and all of our communities great places to live," she said.

Wisconsin Humanities gives out around 60 grants per year. One of them is Hmong Autism Neurodiverse Disability Support (HANDS) in Green Bay. They applied for and received a $4,000 grant from Wisconsin Humanities earlier this year, which mostly went to its dance program.

"As of right now, we are limited on budget, so we're going to try to do as much as we can with what we have, but we might have to cut funding to some of the programs we do have," HANDS president Kerry Yang said.

HANDS offers Hmong cultural programs, a community pantry and closet and support groups for parents of kids with disabilities. HANDS just opened in August 2024 and was hoping to get as much grant funding as possible to launch their services. Now, it’s back to the drawing board.

Yang said the loss of Wisconsin Humanities is devastating. While she's unsure what changes they'll have to make, HANDS planned to apply for an $8,000 grant to help expand their cultural programs.

"Cultural arts is a fabric of America, and so losing that funding is losing the aspect of who we are," Yang said.

$65 million is being saved nationally from these cuts.

FOX 11 reached out to Congressman Tony Wied for an interview to discuss DOGE's cuts, but he was unavailable. Instead, he sent us the following statement:

This effort by the Trump Administration is not about diminishing our cultural heritage and the valuable work of these programs. Rather, this is part of an initiative to streamline the federal government and prioritize where taxpayer dollars can deliver the most impact. While Congress retains the authority to allocate funding for federal agencies like the NEH, the President ultimately oversees and manages the policy and funding for the agency. President Trump made it clear throughout his campaign that his goal was to reduce the federal bureaucracy and root out waste, fraud, and abuse of federal dollars, an initiative I fully support.

FOX 11 also reached out to DOGE for an interview. The agency sent us back the following statement via email:

The Bipartisan House DOGE Caucus works in partnership with Congress and President Trump’s United States DOGE Service to streamline government operations and save taxpayer money. The nation expects sweeping common-sense reform, and the House DOGE Caucus will work to ensure that every dollar spent in Washington delivers a direct benefit to the people it serves while prioritizing transparency, accountability, and efficiency.