Dems ask to boost domestic spending

Washington: Senate Democrats, whose support is needed to pass more than $1 trillion worth of Cabinet department budgets, are demanding that domestic agencies receive budget increases, not just the Pentagon. Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer, and other top Democrats delivered the message in a letter to GOP leaders on Monday that also restated their opposition to President Donald Trump’s promised wall along the US-Mexico border. The message came as lawmakers faced the return of automatic spending cuts commonly known as sequestration that were the lingering consequence of a 2011 budget deal.