President Donald Trump's proposed budget calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts , which provides hundreds of millions of dollars each year to individuals and institutions around the country.
Meanwhile, dozens of organizations have received notifications that grants have been rejected or rescinded, and an NEA official reported Monday that staff members have been asked to resign or retire.
The NEA is the latest target of Trump's sweeping overhaul of federal cultural agencies as he seeks to eliminate what he calls "woke" influences. The president has fired top officials, cut funding and demanded new guidelines at the Kennedy Center , the Smithsonian Institution and the National Endowment for the Humanities .
The endowment did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Michael Orlove, the NEA's director of state, regional local partnerships, posted on an endowment-affiliated newsletter that he had accepted the "deferred resignation program" and would be stepping down at the end of the month. "Given the current situation, it was the best option for me and my family," he wrote.