President Donald Trump’s 2021 budget would zero out the main source of federal support for libraries and museums. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut says he’ll fight the proposal.
Blumenthal called the proposed cut inexplicable and inexcusable.
“There’s no rationale for it given, and none possible. Because libraries and museums are really the cultural lifeblood of our communities.”
Last year museums and libraries in Connecticut received nearly $650,000 from the federal funding agency. Among the sites that have received grants in the past – the Mystic Aquarium and New Haven’s Artspace.
Trump proposed defunding the agency in previous budgets. But Congress has never approved those cuts. Last year it appropriated $250 million to the agency.
Trump’s budget also proposed eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.
