Trump administration Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos flexed full-on super-villain Tuesday when she submitted her 2020 budget proposal before the House Appropriations Committee, which proposed — among other things — to completely cut funding for the Special Olympics. Although DeVos admitted that she found the Special Olympics to be “awesome,” her plan would cut $17.6 million in federal funding that currently goes to athletes, training facilities, and disabled children’s programs.
Instead, DeVos suggested that the sports organization for children and adults with intellectual disabilities and physical disabilities could be funded completely with charitable donations, as it’s already “well-supported by the philanthropic sector.” Currently, the Special Olympics gets approximately 12 percent of its funding from the government, with the remainder of the $124 million annual income (as of 2017) coming from donations.
Although 12 percent may not seem like much, as usual DeVos didn’t seem to have a full grasp on what exactly that would mean for the kids who rely on that government funding.
In the committee meeting Rep. Mark Pocan asked DeVos: “Do you know how many kids are going to be affected by that cut?”
She answered: “I don’t know the number of kids.” Pocan replied: “It’s 272,000 kids.”
Meanwhile, President Donald Trump is still bleeding money from the American people on his weekend trips to Mar-a-Lago — not to mention that that DeVos herself lives a transparently lavish lifestyle — and the irony has not been lost on people. As such, many took to Twitter to call out this latest affront on basic human decency from the Trump administration.
Betsy DeVos, on cutting funding to the Special Olympics:
"We had to make some difficult decisions."
The Special Olympics cost around $18 million, or about the same as five of Trump's golf trips to Mar-a-Lago.
It's not a difficult decision. It's an evil one.
— Nick Jack Pappas (@Pappiness) March 26, 2019
https://twitter.com/kashanacauley/status/1110707192145965056
White House yesterday: Liberals have created a delusional fantasy in their heads that we’re supervillains
White House today: We’re defunding the Special Olympics to pay for a racism wall
— Jess Dweck (@TheDweck) March 27, 2019
This is really a special class of assholes that cuts taxes for the wealthy and pays for it by eliminating funding for the Special Olympics https://t.co/mBi2LKXYHv
— Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) March 27, 2019
https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1110898681404768258
https://twitter.com/OhNoSheTwitnt/status/1110860178981822464
https://twitter.com/susie_meister/status/1110744982866952192
I think the cuts to Special Olympics could be restored by skipping 6 trips to Mar A Lago. https://t.co/r0VgOMaNzn
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) March 27, 2019
FUN FACT: Trump has spent 270 days at one of his golf courses. If he had spent only 250 days, it would pay for the #SpecialOlympics.
— Tea Pain (@TeaPainUSA) March 26, 2019
Betsy DeVos is worth over 5 billion dollars. She owns a 40 million dollar yacht. One of 10 BOATS her family owns. I'm sure this decision was "difficult" for her to make. This timeline is way beyond a farce at this point. https://t.co/ZlPSEk8SJl
— Felicia Day🇺🇸 (@feliciaday) March 26, 2019
That lady who just cut funding for the Special Olympics lives here.
I'm kidding. Betsy DeVos doesn't LIVE here. She visits sometimes though. This is her summer place. pic.twitter.com/lAcJjmheyZ
— The Hoarse Whisperer (@TheRealHoarse) March 27, 2019
I cannot think of a more disheartening piece of news. I have covered the Special Olympics. It is amazing. This is not about politics, it is about who and what we value as a nation. This is absolutely disgraceful. https://t.co/xGYp20oK0P
— Seth Davis (@SethDavisHoops) March 26, 2019
Betsy DeVos is trending so that means one of five things…
1. She did something horrible.
2. She took away money from something meaningful and worthwhile.
3. Someone is missing Dalmatians.
4. A house fell on her.
5. All of the above.
— Tony Posnanski (@tonyposnanski) March 26, 2019
Betsy DeVos and the Trump Administration want to take away funding for the Special Olympics. This is so surprising considering the President's history of compassion for people with disabilities. pic.twitter.com/SqxdPuyXEe
— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) March 26, 2019
His sister, Betsy DeVos, is a billionaire Education Secretary who keeps a $40 million family yacht in the Caymans to dodge US taxes. She cut student loan aid, wants to cut America's schools budget by 8.5 billion, and just announced deep cuts to the Special Olympics.
— John Fugelsang (@JohnFugelsang) March 27, 2019
For what it’s worth, all three Trump administration budgets since 2016 have attempted to cut Special Olympics funding, with none yet to succeed. And now that the budget still has to pass through a Democrat-majority Congress it seems even more unlikely that the cuts will pass.