‘Tip of the iceberg': Popular suburban museum and zoo impacted by DOGE cuts

A popular suburban museum and one of the Chicago-area's most notable zoos say they are being hit hard by so-called DOGE cuts.

According to Brookfield Zoo, the beloved attraction has already started receiving cancellation notifications for grants from the Institute of Museum and Library Services.

Brookfield Zoo said it received notification for one of two pending grants from the agency, which was aimed at looking at behavioral diversity as an indicator of animal welfare.

The Institute of Museum and Library Services has been added to the list of government agencies targeted by President Donald Trump and the Department of Government Efficiency. In a recent executive order, he listed the institute among seven agencies to be dismantled “to the maximum extent of the law.” Trump has also installed a new acting director, Keith Sonderling.

The institute, or IMLS, was established in 1996 and hands out thousands of grants worth hundreds of millions of dollars. The American Library Association said the IMLS is a vital source of support.

Brookfield Zoo said no adjustments have been made so far due to the funding loss, but they aren't the only ones feeling the impact from such cuts.

"[The cuts are] impacting us in a number of ways," Andrea Ingram, president and CEO of the DuPage Children's Museum, told NBC Chicago. "Most direct is the termination of our contract… our grant from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) last week."

The money from the grant, an estimated $84,000, was set to help the children's museum with a new exhibit.

"We’ve already invested our own time and resources in development, however, it means we wont be able to spread out and build this exhibit, which we were planning on doing this summer. But honestly, $84,000 for us is just the tip of the ice berg not just for us, but for every children's museum, science center and library in the country," Ingram said.

During his first term, Trump repeatedly called for the IMLS to be shut down, but funding was maintained by Congress. The American Library Association in a statement this week condemned “eliminating the only federal agency dedicated to funding library services. ... The Trump administration’s executive order is cutting off at the knees the most beloved and trusted of American institutions and the staff and services they offer.”

The library association has advised members that the status of current grants remains unclear. If the administration follows the same playbook it has in targeting other small agencies for closure, IMLS could be shut down.

Ingram warned that while the funding loss to the DuPage museum is significant, had it been seen in other suburbs like Elgin or Joliet, they would be under a "threat of losing their libraries."

"And that's not an exaggeration," she said.

"If we are gone, if our libraries are gone, the fundamentals of getting our kids ready for school and the lifelong learners that we need them to be to validly participate in this society and create vibrant economies and families, is completely in jeopardy," she added.