U.S. plan proposes sweeping overhaul
WASHINGTON • President Donald Trump unveiled a US$1.15 trillion budget Thursday, proposing a farreaching overhaul of federal spending that would slash many domestic programs to finance a big increase for the military and make a down payment on a U.S.-Mexico border wall.
Trump’s plan seeks to upend Washington with cuts to long-promised campaign targets like foreign aid and the Environmental Protection Agency.
“A budget that puts America first must make the safety of our people its number one priority — because without safety, there can be no prosperity,” Trump said in a message accompanying his proposed budget that was titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.”
The US$54 billion boost for the military is the largest since President Ronald Reagan’s Pentagon buildup in the 1980s, promising immediate money for troop readiness, the fight against Islamic State militants and procurement of new ships, fighter jets and other weapons. The 10 per cent Pentagon boost is financed by $54 billion in cuts to foreign aid and domestic agencies that had been protected by former president Barack Obama.
The budget goes after the frequent targets of the party’s staunchest conservatives, eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, legal aid for the poor, low-income heating assistance and the AmeriCorps national service program established by former president Bill Clinton.
Such programs were the focus of lengthy battles dating to the GOP takeover of Congress in 1995 and have survived prior attempts to eliminate them. Lawmakers will have the final say on Trump’s proposal in the arduous budget process, and many of the cuts will be deemed dead on arrival. White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney acknowledged to reporters that passing the cuts could be an uphill struggle.
Law enforcement agencies like the FBI would be spared, while the border wall would receive an immediate US$1.4 billion infusion in the ongoing fiscal year, with another US$2.6 billion planned for the 2018 budget year starting Oct. 1.
Trump repeatedly claimed during the campaign that Mexico would pay for the wall when, in fact, U.S. taxpayers will foot the bill.
Twelve of the government’s 15 Cabinet agencies would absorb cuts under the president’s proposal.
More than 3,000 EPA workers would lose their jobs and programs such as Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which would tighten regulations on emissions from power plants, would be eliminated.
Trump’s proposal covers only roughly one-fourth of the approximately US$4 trillion federal budget, the discretionary portion that Congress passes each year. It doesn’t address taxes, Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Those big-picture details are due in mid-May.