The Independent's journalism is supported by our readers. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn commission.

Eliminating arts funding programs will save Donald Trump just 0.0625% of budget

'It’s sad in a way because those programs aren’t causing the deficit. These programs don’t amount to a hill of beans'

Christopher Hooton
Monday 20 February 2017 18:13 GMT
Comments

It emerged over the weekend that Donald Trump is moving forward with his plans to axe the National Endowments for the Arts and the Humanities (which partially funds NPR and PBS), the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and other programs as he looks to prune public spending.

The White House budget office has drafted a “hit list” of programs, according to The New York Times, all of which cost under $500 million a year to run. In fact, they total approximately $2.5 billion - just 0.0625% of the projected $4 trillion budget.

UPDATE 16/3: Trump is now formally proposing these cuts

“It’s sad in a way because those programs aren’t causing the deficit,” Steve Bell of the Bipartisan Policy Center told the Times. “These programs don’t amount to a hill of beans.”

Administration officials are apparently aware of the comparatively minuscule cuts, but want to make examples of the programs as ‘wastes of taxpayer money’.

Robert L. Lynch, head of Americans for the Arts, a nonprofit, sees it differently.

“The public wants to see agencies like the N.E.A. continue,” he added to the Times.

“There is always a debate, but there has been agreement among Republicans and Democrats that funding for the arts is a good thing, and it has been kept in place.”

Concurrently, Trump's weekend Mar-a-Lago getaways are costing taxpayers an estimated $3 million.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in