At the hearing, multiple nonprofit leaders gave firsthand accounts of awards that were terminated in late-night notices and later affected operations and program plans.

Jeannie Soika, business and grants manager at the Pocomtuc Valley Memorial Association (PVMA) in Deerfield, said a $300,000 NEH award for a Lucy Terry Prince website and companion programming was canceled by email after the grant had been selected. "These federal funds provide a very small museum with about 20% of its operating budget," Soika said; she listed planned teacher-training, exhibitions and community programs that relied on the award and said she and colleagues are seeking other funders.

Doctor Noel Trent, CEO and president of the Museum of African American History (Beacon Hill and Nantucket), testified that an IMLS award was terminated in April and later reinstated in May following a court preliminary injunction; she said the reinstatement is provisional while appeals continue. "For transparency... an appeal of the court's preliminary injunction order is pending, which may affect the reinstatement of your grant in the future," Trent read from the reinstatement notice. She also said some federal contract language from partner agencies now requires compliance with presidential executive orders and Department of Interior instructions about content and interpretation.

Maurice Emmanuel Parent of Front Porch Arts Collective said an NEA Arts Here award of $65,000 — about 10% of his company's budget — was canceled in an overnight email and that the justification said the project "no longer serves the interest of The United States." Parent described raising roughly a third of the lost funds from local donors but said the rescission interrupted plans to hire staff and embed programs in Roxbury.

Christy Edmonds and Morgan Everett of MASS MoCA and Kurt Steinberg of the Peabody Essex Museum described terminated or uncertain awards for staff training, resiliency work, and programs; some grants were later reinstated under court orders and others remain in limbo. Edmonds said one museum received notice that it "no longer concurs" with administration priorities; Morgan Everett flagged a separate $17.3 million U.S. DOT BUILD grant for a multimodal corridor connecting Williamstown and North Adams that has not progressed as expected after award.

Committee members asked for documentary copies of termination notices, appeals and any related correspondence. Witnesses agreed to provide written backup and financial estimates of unreimbursed expenses.

Ending: Several nonprofit leaders told the committee they would continue appeals and local fundraising, but they asked legislators to track the local consequences and help amplify urgent community needs while federal legal processes proceed.