President Donald Trump’s much-anticipated 2018 budget proposal would eliminate discretionary spending on a wide range of arts and public radio and television programs, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities, and the Institute of Museum and Library Services.
Additional cuts would be made to the Smithsonian Institute and the National Gallery of Art.
Trump’s budget would zero out the $445 million budget for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a relatively small source of funding for programming and broadcast operations on public TV stations and NPR radio stations nationwide, according to the Washington Post.
The budget would also eliminate the budgets for both national arts endowments, which stood at $148 million each in 2016, as well as $230 million for the Institute of Museum and Library Services, which supports libraries and museums, the Post reported.
When asked about the budget cuts at the Conversations with Conservatives event on the Hill on Thursday, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), a member of the House Freedom Caucus, said he liked the “direction” of the Trump’s budget.
“We’re conservatives,” Jordan said. “We think you should plus up the defense budget and we think we should offset that with reductions to non-defense discretionary.
“That’s exactly what President Trump and the White House are putting forward. We really like the trend and the direction they’re headed and look forward to accomplishing those kind of goals.”
Public Broadcasting Service President and CEO Paula Kerger said in a statement that the PBS programming should be credited with “increasing school readiness for kids aged 2 to 8, support for teachers and homeschoolers, lifelong learning, public safety communications and civil discourse.”
The Budget also proposes to eliminate funding for other independent agencies, including: the African Development Foundation; the Appalachian Regional Commission; the Chemical Safety Board; the Corporation for National and Community Service; the Delta Regional Authority; the Denali Commission; the Inter-American Foundation; the U.S. Trade and Development Agency; the Legal Services Corporation; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation; the Northern Border Regional Commission; the Overseas Private Investment Corporation; the United States Institute of Peace; the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness; and the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars.
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