Federal government cuts target civil society

While the other day I wrote about the alleged "Nonprofit industrial complex" ("The "nonprofit industrial complex," city government and service delivery"), at the same time, nonprofit organizations are a key element of American civil society, as President George H.W. Bush said, "1,000 points of light." 

Many nonprofits are top down, with few opportunities for volunteers, while volunteers and efforts focused on delivering outputs helping communities are the mission of many others.

I haven't read Project 2025 : Building for conservative victory through policy, personnel, and training, but given that it is a handbook targeting "progressive action," we shouldn't be surprised.

Nonprofits are the foundation of civil society and civic engagement.

Grant cuts are likely to affect cities and counties as well, and in turn nonprofits that get grants this way ("Federal judge temporarily blocks Trump administration freeze on federal grants and loans," AP).  According to the Los Angeles Times:

... a Jan. 27 memo from the White House budget chief. The memo ordered a wide-ranging spending freeze, specifically calling out “the use of Federal resources to advance Marxist equity, transgenderism, and green new deal social engineering.”

Image from "Community Gardens: What Are They and How To Find Them," Nourishing Neighbors.  Also see "8 Great Tips to Start a Community Garden," Sunset Magazine.

Cuts at the Agency for International Development ("Secretary of State Rubio says purge of USAID programs complete, with 83% of agency’s programs gone," AP) diminish civil society development in foreign countries, and reduce the effectiveness of "soft power" and public diplomacy efforts of the US.

At USDA ("USDA’s $1B in cuts leaves farmers and schools bracing for impact," Washington Post, "Trump's USDA secretary defends $1 billion cuts to funding for food banks, schools," NBC, "A message from the Board of Directors," Green Urban Lunchbox, Salt Lake City), from GLUB:

We are reaching out to share an important update regarding The Green Urban Lunch Box’s programs. After thoughtful deliberation, we have made the difficult decision to pause all our current programs for this year - including the Small Farm Initiative (SFI), CSA, FruitShare, and Back-Farms - while we evaluate the best path forward.

... This decision was not made lightly. We are deeply committed to exploring sustainable ways to continue serving our community and advancing our mission. We are actively engaging in discussions with like-minded organizations and partners to ensure that the impact of our collective efforts endures. However, we do not anticipate resuming our programs this year.

EPA (E.P.A. Plans to Close All Environmental Justice Offices," New York Times, "A West Philly nonprofit lost a multiyear grant worth $700K to DOGE cuts," Philadelphia Inquirer, "The protectors of Santa Monica Bay are caving to Trump’s dangerous demands," Los Angeles Times),  From the PI:

The Overbrook Environmental Education Center is now without up to $700,000 promised to the group for its work to support other organizations working on community gardens, waste reduction, sustainable agriculture, and other environmental projects in disadvantaged local communities, said Jerome Shabazz, executive director of the center.

From the LAT:

A page on the Bay Foundation’s website that previously explained how climate change is affecting the watershed — as seen on the Jan. 21, 2025, version of the page, available via the Internet Archive — was rewritten to delete all references to climate. The group also removed its Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion page, which had previously pledged its commitment to “equity and inclusion across race, gender, age, religion, identity, and experience.”

Also alarming: a draft work plan presented last month to the Santa Monica Bay Restoration Commission. Before the Environmental Protection Agency doles out federal funding for Santa Monica Bay restoration, it must approve a work plan written annually by the commission and the Bay Foundation, then submitted to the EPA.

HUD ("Trump DEI Purge Hits Affordable Housing Groups," Bloomberg), from Bloomberg:

The canceled awards include ongoing projects in more than 1,000 communities to address homelessness, disaster recovery, persistent poverty and other housing issues, according to a list seen by Bloomberg CityLab.

... At least eight national organizations saw their technical assistance contracts with HUD terminated following the DOGE review of their public-facing sites. Technical assistance refers to grants for consulting on tools, coordination, systems and other solutions.

DOGE further eliminated awards for least two of the three groups that administer grants for a program known as Section 4. Federal law requires these awards to be managed and distributed by national intermediaries; HUD’s own guidance for these awards, which are meant to provide support for capacity-building and community development, requires recipients to “advance housing justice” and “support underserved communities.”

(Interestingly, while LISC and the Enterprise Foundation have lost their grants, Habitat for Humanity, which is religious affiliated, did not.)

parks ("Trump administration eyes 30 percent payroll reduction at National Park Service," The Hill, "Workforce cuts raise concerns over national park upkeep," Roll Call).  The National Park Service was one of the first agencies to face massive cuts, cuts so deep professionals are afraid the parks can't be managed and operated in the face of high usage ("National Parks cutting hours, limiting services as Trump layoffs reduce staffing," USA Today).  

NPS is a big utilizer of volunteers and the likelihood is that such programs will barely function this year.  It's one of the largest "citizen-facing" agencies.  And for many it begins to engender greater understanding of the environment and wilderness.  .

 It reminds me of my old joke, that the guiding principle of property management at DC Government was demolition by neglect.  The Trump Administration aims to wreck the Park Service ("DOGE cuts National Park staff as visitation rate peaks," Washington Examiner).  The Park Service was ordered not to share statistics on use ("National Parks Had a Record Year. Trump Officials Appear to Want It Kept Quiet.," New York Times).

To further diminish the quality of visits, the government is cancelling leases of land that hold visitor centers and museums ("Trump property purge to include national park visitor centers, museums," Washington Post).

transportation ("Sec. Duffy Moves to Rescind Billions for ‘Woke’ Transportation on Feb. 18 — So Advocates Must Speak Up Now," Streetsblog): cuts will target sustainable mobility programs and affect biking, walking and biking programs, among others

the arts ("'Chilling effect': Arts organizations react to end of DEI initiatives from fed agency," NPR), etc., public radio and television ("Trump's FCC chief opens investigation into NPR and PBS," NPR). are attacks on civil society.  From the PI:

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Note: for Sugar House Park, I intended to apply for a grant to create a senior nutrition community garden in association with the Utah State University Extension Service--the grant proposal is due around now.  

But that call for proposals was issued by the Biden Administration, and with all the changes with grants in the Trump Administration, it seemed like a waste to put in the energy to apply, since it's not likely such grants will be proffered.