Guards stand next to the U.S. Constitution in the Rotunda of the National Archives in Washington, Sept. 16, 2003. AP Photo/Ron Edmonds

Two agencies tasked with funding educational and artistic endeavors across the country — the National Endowment for the Humanities and the National Endowment for the Arts — would redirect some of their funding to a patriotic statuary garden proposed by President Donald Trump as part of a plan described this week to leaders at the NEH.

In a virtual meeting on Wednesday, NEH acting chair Michael McDonald told members of the National Council of Humanities that some of the funds from both his agency and the NEA would be directed to the so-called National Garden of American Heroes and next year’s celebrations for the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, according to an attendee speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss a confidential matter.

The person said reactions during the meeting were “muted” and “stunned,” with members of the advisory body still processing major changes at the NEH in the past week that drastically slashed staffing and terminated at least 1,200 grants supporting culture and history programs across the country.

The attendee said council members were told those awards were canceled to repurpose funds for the two initiatives. The person added that McDonald told attendees about $17 million would be routed from both the NEH and NEA to support the statuary garden project. No specific details were shared about the time frame for construction, its potential location or how the spending will be carried out.

The plan revives an idea from Trump’s first term. News of the plan to divert agency funds to the sculpture garden was first reported by the New York Times.

McDonald, the NEH and the NEA did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Some staffers at the NEH have questioned the agency’s role in the statuary garden project, noting that commissioning statues, monuments or other artworks has long fallen outside of its purview. The agency is also facing widespread backlash from state humanities councils and organizations who warn that sweeping cuts to grant funding and staff will jeopardize programs and services in communities across the country.

In February, the NEA announced it will alter its 2026 grant guidelines to eliminate a fund for underserved communities and shift focus to prioritize projects that honor the signing of the Declaration of Independence.

The staff cuts at NEH are part of a broader initiative by Elon Musk’s  DOGE to scale back or gut federal agencies to align with Trump’s agenda.

Trump’s idea for an American heroes garden dates back to his first term, during which he signed two executive orders announcing the project. Both were later rescinded by President Joe Biden.

The first, issued on July 3, 2020, and titled “Executive Order on Building and Rebuilding Monuments to American Heroes,” announced plans to “establish a statuary park named the National Garden of American Heroes.” Trump discussed the plans more thoroughly that night during a speech he gave at Mount Rushmore in which he said that “our nation is witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children,” a common talking point on the right. He described the project as “a vast outdoor park that will feature the statues of the greatest Americans to ever live,” though he did not specify which Americans would be honored. “We will teach our children to know that they live in a land of legends,” he said.

On Jan. 18, 2021, days before leaving office, he issued an executive order expanding on the first “to begin the process of building this new monument to our country’s greatness.” That order contained the idea for repurposing the NEA and NEH’s “discretionary funds.” It advised the agency chairs to use one-12th of the funds to commission the statues “as appropriate and consistent with applicable law.”

The order, which came months after a nationwide reckoning over racism in the aftermath of the murder of George Floyd, stated, “The heroes of 1776 have been desecrated, with statues of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin vandalized and toppled.” The order called the garden an “answer to this reckless attempt to erase our heroes, values, and entire way of life.”

The order described a garden filled with statues of notable Americans and provided a long list of examples, which included everyone from actors to inventors to politicians, such as Lauren Bacall, Louis Armstrong, Davy Crockett, Amelia Earhart, Ulysses S. Grant, Alexander Hamilton, Rosa Parks, Edgar Allan Poe, Norman Rockwell, William F. Buckley Jr. and many more.

Anne Branigin contributed to this report.