mr. pocan: i didn't ask about buildings. secretary devos: it's all part of that budget. mr. pocan: your 12% agency cut in light of 15.6% increase in executivalry. but $7 million security expense in the last year. secretary devos: we're also funding the next gen initiatives through federal student aid which requires a lot of investment now to save in the longer term. same thing for the building modernization piece. we're in the process of shrinking down the footprint here from three buildings to two. and all of that -- the expenditures, they come up front so that the savings can be realized in the longer term. mr. pocan: i'm sorry i wasn't more clear in my questions. thank you. ms. delauro: congressman harris. mr. harris: thank you very much. good to see you again, madam secretary. let me just -- again i'll ask the secretaries when they come before here to explain the president's budget. you have to work within the current statute, right? and the current statute, we have to revert to the old caps, is that correct? secretary devos: yes, that's my understanding. mr. harris: cong

mr. pocan: i'm sorry i wasn't more clear in my questions. thank you. ms. delauro: congressman harris. mr. harris: thank you very much. good to see you again, madam secretary. let me just -- again i'll ask the secretaries when they come before here to explain the president's budget. you have to work within the current statute, right? and the current statute, we have to revert to the old caps, is that correct? secretary devos: yes, that's my understanding. mr. harris: congress hasn't raised the caps. so actually, why anyone up here on this side of this wall here would think that the blame is not on us for not having given you the money to spend more. the bottom line is congress is failing again. that's the bottom line. i trust states and localities on education. look, there is a basic philosophy. look, people on this side of the wall, some of us are going to agree to disagree. some people think the federal government knows best how to educate people in somerset, i county. i have one of the two poorest counties. i would like to think my board of education and

mr. pocan: wow. another reason why there is a difference between republicans and democrats found on the floor of congress today. i look at small communities in wisconsin and i would probably illinois where there are correctional facilities, those populations really do bloom because of the people who are incarcerated there but almost no one goes back to that community so this is a much better and more accurate way to have the census. i hope it will be supported and i yield back. i reserve my time, sorry. the chair: the gentleman reserves. mr. davis: i stand here to say that my colleague from wisconsin, i know he did not mean to offend the many thousands upon thousands of nickelback fans of his district in wisconsin. i stand here to save you from doing that and have to face the political consequences at the ballot box. i enjoyed debating back and forth and it's always good to have some good humor on the floor of the house. yes, i actually do have a nickelback song on my running play list that i listen

>> mr. pocant me just say again, we had -- we had to make some difficult decisions with with this budget -- >> okay. this is a question on how many kids. not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. >> highlights from the grilling of education secretary betsy devos over a proposal to cut all $18 million of government funding for the special olympics. the "washington post" pointed out that's roughly five of the president's trips to mar-a-lago. and mr. pocan, the wisconsin democrat, continued, pushing devos to answer why many other special needs programs face similar reductions. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is it that we have a problem with with children who are in special education? why are we cutting all of these programs over and over within this budget? >> well, sir, we have continued to retain the funding levels for i.d.e.a. -- >> i believe i brought up special olympics -- >> i will address the broader question -- >> or if you could actually address

>> mr. pocan, let me say again, we had to make hard decisions with this budget -- >> this is a question about kids. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. i'll answer it for you. that's okay. no problem. it's 272,000 kids that are affected. >> it's an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well. >> joining our conversation because we need him on a day like today, david jolly, new papa, former republican congressman of florida, now independent and karine jean-pierre, we always need her, from moveon.org, both msnbc contributors. i have to start with you. just go. >> nicolle, it's a remarkable level of stupid. no other way to describe what we're seeing. it's donald trump's 2020 campaign, i'm going take away your health care and defund special olympics but bob mueller vindicated me because we can look back at just last november and realize that policy matterers to voters. one of the things you see in this annual budget process often is admini

>> mr. pocanestion of how many kids, not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. i'll answer it for you. that's okay. no problem. >> let me just say that i think special olympics is an awesome organization. one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector -- >> cnn's lauren fox is live on capitol hill and, lauren, during the hearing, how did secretary devos ultimately explain why she chose special olympics for those funding cuts? >> reporter: she said that these are tough decisions and these are hard fiscal times for the u.s. government and essentially they get a lot of money in donations and therefore it's not the federal government's responsibility to fund it, but she also said in her statement, quote, it is unacceptable, shameful and counterproductive that the media and some members of congress have spun up falsehood as and fully misrepresented the facts. she's going on the defense here. she's saying basically that her budget does include money for fami

>> mr. pocanons with this budget. >> again, this is a question of how many kids, not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. i also know that -- it's 272,000. >> i also know that -- >> i'll answer it for you. that's okay. it's 272,000 kids that are affected. >> i think the special olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is it that we have a problem with children in special education? why are we cutting these programs over and over within this budget? >> well, sir, we have continued to retain the funding levels for i.d.e.a. and held that level, so in the context -- >> sorry, i don't think i brought up i.d.e.a., i believe i brought up special olympics, the national technical institute for the blind, gallaudet university. federal program for printing box. so if you could address those, that's the question. i would really appreciate it. >> i'd address the broader question. >> if you could

mr. pocan, let me sasay again we hahad to make some decisioio wih this budget. >> how m my kids, not about the bubudget. >> i i don't t know how manany. >> 27272,000. i will answer r it for youou. 272,000 kidids affected - -- also organization, well supported by the philanthropic sector as well. amy: as of thursday morning, a moveon petition asking devos to reverse plans to cut programs for special olympics had gathered nearly 100,000 signatures. last year, congress allocated about $17.6 million to the special olympics. "the washington post" reports that figure is roughly equivalent to amount taxpayers allocated to president trump's last five trips to his golf resort in mar-a-lago, florida. and those are some of the headlines. this is democracy now!, democracynow.org, the war and peace report. i'm amy goodman. nermeen: and i'm nermeen shaikh. welcome to all of our listeners and viewers from around the country and around the world. the senate on tuesday rejected the green new deal after 43 democ

>> mr. pocan, let me just say again, we had to make some some difficult -- >> okay. >> -- decisions with this budget. >> this is a question about how many kids. not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. i'll answer it for you, that's okay. >> let me just say that i think the special olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic sector as well. >> sure. >> so the grilling didn't end there. she faced more questions about the proposal today on capitol hill, so she was still defending it before the president made his announceme announcement. look what happened when cnn's ryan nobles tried to get answers from her. >> madam secretary, you said today you were not the person that proposed this funding change. can you explain who in your administration did? madam secretary, have you spoken to the president about this at all? if there's some misunderstanding, madam secretary, this is the opportunity to explain it to us. are you con

>> umm, mr. pocan, let me say again, we had to make some difficult decisions with this budget. >> again, this is a question of how many kids, not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. i'll answer it for you, that's okay, no problem. it's 272,000 kids that are affected. >> special olympics is an awesome organization, one well-supported by the philanthropic sector as well. >> i have two nephews with autism. what is the problem we have with children in special education, where are we cutting these programs over and over in this budget? >> the special olympics was founded in 1968 by eunice kennedy shriver, the world's largest organization for people with disabilities. her son tim is the chair of the organization and joins me now. welcome, tim shriver, good to see you. what's your reaction to this administration cutting all federal money from special olympics? >> the big picture here is they're missing a big story, there's a much bigger story going on in the country, in

. >> mr. pocant me just say again, we had to make some difficult decisions with this budget. >> again, this is a question of how many kids, not about the budget. >> i don't know the number of kids. >> it's 272,000 kids. i'll answer it for you. that's okay. no problem. it's 272,000 kids that are affected. >> i think special olympics is an awesome organization, one that is well supported by the philanthropic center as well. >> reporter: so it's only $17.6 million in a $4.75 trillion federal budget and secretary devos says this is not a federal program, it's a charity, and the education department funds all kinds of programs for special needs kids but the administration did find money, $20 million, for one charity, the jack nicklaus children's hospital in miami. jack nicklaus, of course, a golfing buddy of president trump. robin. >> duly noted. and it's not just kids. young adults also involved in special olympics. all right, terry, thank you so much. >>> now to the demand for answers after a fifth gra