President Donald Trump's proposed budget, which the White House released on Tuesday, calls for dramatic cuts to federal spending in an attempt at balancing the budget over the next decade. Many Republicans have pushed back on the proposal, and economists have pointed out fatal flaws in its claim that the economy will be able to achieve 3 percent growth thanks to the plan. The budget calls for cuts to social programs like Medicaid and the charity Meals on Wheels. It also calls for the outright dissolution of a number of organizations, like the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Trump‘s desire to dissolve the endowments doesn't come as a surprise. In January, preliminary budget proposals, heavily influenced if not crafted entirely by the far right Heritage Foundation, called for the programs to be eliminated, much to the dismay of the public, which created petitions hoping to save the organizations. Now, it appears that reality is setting in. On Monday, William D. Adams, chairman of the NEH, resigned. And on Tuesday, the White House requested that Congress appropriate $42.3 million in order to properly close out the program.
“As NEH awaits Congressional action on the President’s proposed budget, the agency is continuing normal operations and will be making the next round of FY 2017 awards following the meeting of the National Council in July,” Margaret Plympton, deputy chair of NEH, said in a statement.
The appropriation request underscores the bleak future for institutions that Republican leadership will doubtlessly cut. It also sheds light on how much is required to properly shut down a government program that's been in existence for decades.
