Trump reverses course on Special Olympics funding cut

Trump reverses course on Special Olympics funding cut
By Ben Kesslen with NBC News Politics
Share this articleComments
Share this articleClose Button

"The Special Olympics will be funded, I just told my people," President Trump said Thursday afternoon.

ADVERTISEMENT

President Donald Trump announced Thursday that a proposed $18 million cut in Special Olympics funding has been withdrawn.

"The Special Olympics will be funded, I just told my people," Trump said outside the White House.

The president's announcement comes after his education secretary, Betsy DeVos, was grilled by congressional Democrats in two hearings this week over a proposal to eliminate all federal funding for the Special Olympics.

The Special Olympics is largely funded by private donations but receives $18 million a year in federal funds that the organization said it uses for school programs for students with disabilities.

DeVos expressed support of the budget change after the president's announcement."I am pleased and grateful the president and I see eye-to-eye on this issue, and that he has decided to fund our Special Olympics grant. This is funding I have fought for behind-the-scenes over the last several years."

Hours prior to Trump's announcement Thursday, Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois lambasted DeVos before the Senate Appropriations Committee.

Durbin said that whoever is responsible for proposed Special Olympics cut deserves a "gold medal for insensitivity," and asked DeVos, "Did you personally approve — I think a 'yes' or 'no' will do — the $18 million dollar cut of the funding for Special Olympics?"

DeVos replied, "No, I didn't."

"To think we can't spend $18 million to fund this dramatically successful venture," the senator said, stressing that this amount is only a small part of the Education Department's budget of over $60 billion.

In 2017, the Special Olympics reported a total of $148 million in funding from various sources.

Two days earlier, on Tuesday, DeVos was grilled by Democratic representatives on a House subcommittee about the proposed Special Olympics cut.

Special Olympics Chairman Timothy Shriver told MSNBC on Wednesday that losing federal funding would hurt the organization's school programs for children with intellectual disabilities and increase their "social isolation."

At Thursday's hearing, DeVos emphasized she supports the Special Olympics. "You know I love the Special Olympics myself," she said, adding she has given a portion of her salary from the Department of Education to the organization.

The proposed Special Olympics cut came as part of the Trump administration's overall reduction of the education budget by 10 percent or $7.1 billion.DeVos defended the proposed cuts, saying, "It's easier to keep spending," but reductions are necessary.

Democratic Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut said the proposed reductions are "very hurtful. I will say to my committee members, it is hard to stomach a lecture from this administration on the danger of deficits," Murphy said, citing the government's $234 billion monthly deficit in February, the largest ever on record.

Share this articleComments

You might also like

Trump wins North Dakota contest ahead of Super Tuesday

Judge orders Trump off Illinois primary ballot but puts ruling on hold

US Democrats in Europe prepare for a rematch against Donald Trump