The Trump administration faced withering attacks from Democrats and others as it scrambled Wednesday to defend its proposal to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics.
President Donald Trump’s budget plan slashes programs of all stripes, but the idea of cutting federal support for a beloved organization appeared to generate outrage far and wide.
The proposed 2020 budget eliminates $17.6 million allocated for Special Olympics, which gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to compete in a range of athletic contests. It marks the third year that Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has proposed the cut, but after the plan came up at a congressional hearing Tuesday, attacks poured in from Capitol Hill, the presidential campaign trail and Twitter.
DeVos defended the proposal, saying Special Olympics benefits from private philanthropic support. But that did little to calm the storm.
“Trump and DeVos want to slash education spending and defund the Special Olympics after giving tax breaks to the top 1%. Unbelievable,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who is seeking the Democratic nomination for president, said on Twitter. “When we are in the White House we will get our national priorities straight.”
“It’s completely outrageous,” said Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, another Democratic presidential candidate.
Sen. Tom Udall, D-N.M., called the idea “dead on arrival.”
Congress has repeatedly rejected Trump’s request to kill the funding and instead has steadily increased the Special Olympics appropriation, from $12.6 million in 2017 to $15.1 million in 2018 to $17.6 million this year.
The maelstrom was ignited Tuesday on Capitol Hill when House Democrats on an Appropriations subcommittee pressed DeVos to defend her budget plan.
“Do you know how many kids are going to be affected by that cut?” Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Wis., asked. The education secretary said she didn’t know. “I’ll answer for you,” he replied. “It’s 272,000 kids.”
Special Olympics is one of many programs the Trump budget eliminates or slashes. Overall, the budget slices $8.5 billion from the Education Department, a 12 percent reduction.
On Tuesday, DeVos made little headway in her defense, partly because she was cut off by Democratic lawmakers.
“We had to make some difficult decisions with this budget,” she said. She added: “I think Special Olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well-supported by the philanthropic sector as well.”
On Wednesday, DeVos issued a statement calling the criticism “unacceptable, shameful and counterproductive” and defending the budget plan.
“The Special Olympics is not a federal program. It’s a private organization. I love its work, and I have personally supported its mission,” she said.
She noted that the organization raises more than $100 million a year in contributions.
“There are dozens of worthy nonprofits that support students and adults with disabilities that don’t get a dime of federal grant money. But given our current budget realities, the federal government cannot fund every worthy program, particularly ones that enjoy robust support from private donations,” the education secretary said.
In 2017, DeVos, a billionaire, donated her salary to four charities, including Special Olympics.
She and others in the agency appeared frustrated they were not getting credit for maintaining level funding of $13.2 billion for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which is the principal source of federal funding for special education in public schools.
