By 1939, HUAC's tactics seemed to work, and the newly elected Congress cut $150,000 million from WPA budget, while quadrupling HUAC's funding. In January 1939, 6,000 people were laid off from Federal One. By July 1939, Congress voted to eliminate the Theatre Project. Federal sponsorship for the Federal Writers' Project came to an end in 1939, although the program was permitted to continue under state sponsorship, with some federal employees, until 1943. In the last months of the FWP's existence, Henry Alsberg was fired. He continued to work past his firing date to meet contractual arrangements with the publishers of three upcoming "American Guide" books. By the time of his departure in 1939, the FWP had published 321 publications; hundreds more remained in various stages of publications. Some were published in the years leading up to 1943 under the renamed Writer's Program. Others were never completed. Over the lifetime of the FWP and the Writer's Program, 10,000 people were estimated to be employed.