President Trump's first budget blueprint is calling for the elimination of federal funding to a host of arts and humanities programs, as the new administration seeks to redirect taxpayer dollars to defense. The blueprint released by the White House “proposes to eliminate funding” for: the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH), and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which sends some money to PBS and National Public Radio. Federal funding of arts programs, including money for public radio and television, has been the target of Republican administrations and congressional budget hawks for decades. Supporters of public funding of the arts have fought out challenges for years, but this year could be different with Republicans controlling the budgetary levers at both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue. Public broadcasters and their supporters were quick to respond to Trump’s plans to fulfill a campaign promise to end federal financing of public media.

Source: Fox News March 16, 2017 18:01 UTC