Zach Gibson/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced more backlash Thursday at a hearing on Capitol Hill over the Trump administration’s proposal to cut federal funding for the Special Olympics.
In a heated back-and-forth with Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., DeVos defended the administration’s “tough choices and decisions,” saying she did not personally approve the cuts, but forcefully pushed back against criticism.
“Let’s not use disabled children in a twisted way for your political narrative,” DeVos said when answering questions from Sen. Durbin. “That is just disgusting and it’s shameful.”
Durbin, in response, said the proposed cut was “shameful.”
“I am not twisting it, I asked you to answer yes or no, and you said you did not personally approve this,” Durbin said.
DeVos told the committee that she loved the Special Olympics and had contributed a portion of her salary to the organization.
Durbin went on to criticize decision-makers at the Office of Management and Budget, saying, “Whoever came up with that idea at OMB gets a Special Olympic gold medal for insensitivity.”
DeVos has faced significant backlash this week over part of the administration’s budget proposal that would eliminate $17.6 million for the Special Olympics. The full budget proposed a decrease of $7.1 billion for education funding overall.
The proposal to cut funding for the Special Olympics has been part of past Trump administration budget proposals. The chances that the budget will get passed as it is in its first iteration is highly unlikely.
On Wednesday, the chairman of the Senate appropriations subcommittee, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., issued a statement saying that the subcommittee would “not cut funding for the program.”
“I’m a longtime supporter of Special Olympics and proud that Missouri is home to the largest Special Olympics training facility in the world,” Sen. Blunt wrote. “I was just at the World Games and saw, as I have many times before, what a huge impact the organization has on athletes, their families, and their communities. Our Department of Education appropriations bill will not cut funding for the program.”
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