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Demonstrators in the nation’s capital protest against President Donald Trump’s order to shut down the U.S. Department of Education in a late March rally. Photo by Kent Nishimura/Reuters

It’s Tuesday, the traditional day for elections and for our pause-and-consider newsletter on politics and policy. We think of it as a mini-magazine in your inbox.

46 PROGRAMS TRUMP WANTS TO ELIMINATE
By Lisa Desjardins, @LisaDNews ([link removed])
Correspondent

President Donald Trump has made headlines for pledging to eliminate the Department of Education. ([link removed])

But he is not eliminating it yet.

Last week we learned that his proposed budget would cut 15% of the agency’s funding ([link removed]) next year. His budget says he will wind down the Department of Education ultimately.

This news came as part of the budget “appendix” the White House released Friday ([link removed]) , which provides 1,224 pages of numbers on how Trump wants Congress to appropriate funds next year.

That was Part 2 to his 46-page initial or “skinny” budget proposal. ([link removed])

We read through both documents and there are some key points to understand here:
* Trump’s budget proposal contains many specifics, it is worth reading. ([link removed])
* But it leaves out some critical information, such as the summary tables that usually provide bottom-line cuts and spending amounts for agencies and government overall. Without that, the overall deficit and agency effects are harder to understand.
* Trump’s budget would eliminate more than 40 programs and agencies. We spotted these while reading through the document.

Why talk about this?

“Why are you spending so much time on this?” you may ask. “Presidential budget proposals are meaningless fafferie, symbolic at best!” you add.

Here’s why. Trump is running the Republican Party and asserting presidential power in ways unseen in American history. His requests are taken seriously. At the least, the outline he is presenting here will influence congressional decisions.

From the White House and Republican perspective, his plan to eliminate some programs underscores that he is pushing for action that others have avoided.

Potential critics

Many of these programs have vocal advocates who say, without them, critical oversight, protections and functions will be gone.

At the same time, as you’ll see, this target list is composed mostly of programs with relatively small budgets. Eliminating them saves a sum barely worth mentioning relative to the federal deficit. ([link removed]) Not the scale many fiscal conservatives hope to see.

Example: The largest proposed elimination is the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program ([link removed]) , or LIHEAP, a national program that helps people afford heating and energy bills. Its roughly $4 billion in funding is just .06 percent of the discretionary budget ([link removed].) Congress controls.

The Office of Management and Budget did not respond to our request for comment on the proposed cuts by the time we sent this email.

Trump’s elimination list
[link removed]

Photo by Leah Millis/Reuters
Here are programs and agencies Trump proposes to eliminate in his budget.

For perspective, we are including the estimated funding amount for the current year, fiscal year 2025, when the budget provides them.

Economic and jobs programs
* Economic development assistance programs. This provides some $2 billion in grants to economically struggling communities.
* Economic Development Administration. $113 million.
* Job Corps. More than $1.7 billion.
* AmeriCorps (officially known as the Corporation for National and Community Service). $976 million.
* Minority Business Development Agency. $68 million.
* Community Service Employment for Older Americans. $405 million.
* The Department of Labor’s Women’s Bureau.
* NASA’s Office of Science, Tech, Engineering and Math Engagement. $143 million.

Oversight
* Office of Federal Contract Compliance Programs. This office is a watchdog, tasked with making sure there is no discrimination in contracting. $111 million.
* Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board. $14 million.

Health and living programs
* Administration for Community Living, which supports older and disabled Americans' ability to live independently. More than $2.4 billion.
* U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. $4 million.
* The Department of Health and Human Services’ Prevention and Public Health Fund. $1.4 billion in funds planned for FY 2026.
* Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Trust Fund. $338 million.

Assistance programs
* LIHEAP, the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program. More than $4.1 billion.
* Northeast Home Heating Oil Reserve. $7 million.
* Refugees and asylees. Cash, medical and other social service assistance is eliminated. No summary figure given.

Legal and labor programs
* The Department of Justice’s Community Relations Service. This division works to mediate and confront community tension. $24 million.
* Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, which mediates labor disputes. $54 million.
* Legal Services Corporation, one of the nation's largest funders of civil legal aid. $560 million.


Media and communications
* U.S. Agency for Global Media, which includes Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, Radio Free Europe. $857 million.
* Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private nonprofit that distributes federal funding to public media organizations, including to NPR and PBS. This would affect local stations and programs ([link removed]) like the PBS News Hour. $595 million.

Democracy and international development
* Inter-American Foundation, funding community development in Latin America and the Caribbean. $47 million.
* Educational and Cultural Exchange Programs (former part of USAID). $741 million.
* Woodrow Wilson Center. $15 million.
* U.S. Institute of Peace. $55 million.
* African Development Foundation. $45 million.


Arts
* National Endowment for the Arts. $207 million.
* National Endowment for the Humanities. $207 million.
* Institute of Museum and Library Services, a small federal agency that supports museums and libraries ([link removed]) around the country. $295 million.


Regional authorities
* Delta Regional Authority. $41 million.
* Denali Commission in Alaska. $38 million.
* D.C. Tuition Assistance Grant program. $40 million.
* Northern Border Regional Commission. $46 million.
* Great Lakes Authority. $5 million.
* Southeast Crescent Regional Commission. $20 million.
* Southwest Border Regional Commission. $5 million.


Native American programs
* Indian Land Consolidation Program. $4 million.
* Indian Guaranteed Loan Program. No new loans to be guaranteed.
* Institute of American Indian and Alaska Native Culture and Arts Development, a higher education institute in Santa Fe. $12 million.
* Office of Navajo and Hopi Indian Relocation. $2 million.


Wildlife
* State and Tribal Wildlife Grants Program. $72 million.
* Multinational Species Conservation Fund. $21 million.
* Neotropical Migratory Bird Conservation Fund. $5 million.
* Cooperative Endangered Species Conservation Fund. $23 million in discretionary funding.
* Marine Mammal Commission. $5 million.

What happens next?

Congress must pass the next funding bill by Sept. 30 to avoid a government shutdown.

Appropriators in both the House and Senate will go over this list, and make their own version of what stays and what goes.

It is not typical for Congress to eliminate many agencies or programs, but we are not in a typical year. Fiscal conservatives and Trump are pushing to show that they are slimming the government.

Stay tuned.
More on politics from our coverage:
* Watch: White House criticizes GOP senators worried about the national debt. ([link removed])
* One Big Question: Will Senate Republicans make big changes to the budget bill? NPR’s Tamara Keith and Amy Walter of the Cook Political Report with Amy Walter discuss. ([link removed])
* A Closer Look: How lawmakers are restricting citizen-led ballot initiatives. ([link removed])
* Perspectives: Mississippi governor on how changes to Medicaid and disaster funding could affect his state. ([link removed])

THIS WEEK’S TRIVIA QUESTION

[link removed]
Watch the segment in the player above.

By Joshua Barajas
Senior Editor, Digital

The nation’s capital is hosting one of the largest observances of Pride Month in the world this month.

Washington, D.C., is hosting WorldPride this year against a backdrop of the Trump administration’s rollback of LGBTQ+ rights and protections, which have sought, in particular, to target trans people. ([link removed])

WorldPride is a different kind of celebration this year ([link removed]) , said June Crenshaw, deputy director of the Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group hosting the international event.

“We are here. We're not going anywhere,” she said, “and we need to come together and fight back all the horrific laws and the ways in which our community is being targeted.”

Our question: On Gilbert Baker’s original design for the Pride flag, each color of the rainbow represented a different thing. Which color symbolizes the spirit of LGBTQ+ people?

Send your answers to [email protected] (mailto:[email protected]) or tweet using #PoliticsTrivia. The first correct answers will earn a shout-out next week.

Last week, we asked: Several composers were represented on the “Golden Record” for the 1977 Voyager missions, but which one had three works selected for the collection?

The answer: Johann Sebastian Bach. ([link removed]) The chosen works included an excerpt from the first movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 2 in F, which appeared alongside other Earth sounds, such as a howling dog, a train, and a heartbeat.

Congratulations to our winners: Barry Weinstein and Jim Brydon!

Thank you all for reading and watching. We’ll drop into your inbox next week.
PBS News depends on the support of individuals who believe in the importance of independent, balanced and in-depth reporting on the most important domestic and international issues of the day. Please consider making a tax-deductible contribution ([link removed]) to ensure our vital reporting continues to thrive. Thank you.

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