The hit squad of young adults assembled by Elon Musk, calling themselves the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE) barreled into the federal government, like gangbusters, moved fast and broke many things. The spending cuts and suspension of federal grants was sudden and jarring. The effects are still being felt and documented.
The impact of cuts, rule changes, executive orders and more is the topic of our July 14 program: MAGA and DOGE come to Greenville.
Program note: This month’s meeting will be held at the Five Forks Library at 104 Sunnydale Dr., Simpsonville.
Officials with the United Way of Greenville and United Way of the Piedmont report that Americorps grants in the Upstate have been terminated, ending the service of hundreds of Americorps members across South Carolina. Americorps is a federal agency that provides disaster services, economic opportunity, education and environmental project support.
DOGE ordered Americorps to cut $400 million dollars in grant funding nationwide. Eighteen programs and 600 Americorps members were eliminated across South Carolina. More than 32,000 members were sidelined nationwide.
The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and the Institute of Museum and Library Services are among a group of “small agency eliminations” proposed by the Trump administration in their budget request. Since its founding by Congress in 1965, the NEA has awarded $5.5 billion in grants. It is the largest arts funder in the U.S. yet one of the smallest federal agencies. It is currently funded at $207 million, which represents 0.003 percent of the total federal budget. The Trump administration has begun withdrawing current NEA grants earmarked for arts agencies across the country. The NEA, the NEH and the Institute of Museum and Library Services have been allotted zero funding in Trump’s 2026 budget proposal.
NEA grants are a reimbursement for money already spent, so the decision to rescind them has proven especially painful for smaller institutions. The NEA has already withdrawn or terminated 10 grants across South Carolina including a $25,000 grant to Hub City Writers Project through Hub City Press in Spartanburg. At least six organizations will need to find alternative funding or cancel their projects, they were given one week to appeal the grant terminations.
The South Carolina Humanities Council (SCHC) lost access to its annual $1 million in federal funding. In the last two years, $1.2 million was awarded to educational and non-profit entities across the state through the SCHC.
The effects of these massive budget cuts on Greenville County are only beginning to be felt. Many individuals and agencies are reluctant to comment publicly for fear of back lash from the administration. Some agencies, like Loaves and Fishes Greenville, a food rescue non-profit, will be able to pivot after the loss of a federal funded partnership. Loaves & Fishes Executive Director Tessa May will be a guest speaker at the July 14th meeting of Democratic Women of Greenville County.
Other agencies in our community like Unity Health on Main are struggling to survive without federal funding. Unity recently lost two grants totalling $140,000, that were DEI specific serving communities of color, a new federal grant of $650,000 has been frozen and will not be funded for 2025. Unity now faces a $790,000 deficit. Xorely Lopez a Retention Specialist and Rosa Gonzalez, a mental health therapist with Unity Health will update us on their fundraising efforts and their mission to provide affordable, compassionate health care for all.
Nearly $148 million in federal childcare funding is at stake for some of South Carolina’s most vulnerable children currently enrolled in Head Start. Head Start, a nationwide grant-funded network of childcare centers with a mission to get at risk kids ready for school. There are 169 Head Start centers across South Carolina. According to the White House’s draft budget, eliminating Head Start is consistent with the Trump Administration’s “goals of returning control of education to the states and increasing parental control,” according to the Associated Press. If most or all of the federal funding is lost the state is unlikely to replace it. South Carolina currently ranks 37th in state financial investment in early childhood education according to the state’s Education Oversight Committee.
South Carolina could also get hit hard by the proposed cuts in Medicaid included in the budget bill passed by the House in May. The state stands to lose $4 billion over the next ten years according to the Kaiser Family Fund. The non partisan Congressional Budget Office estimates that nearly eleven million Americans could lose their health coverage over the next decade.