On Hill, top aides defend a budget that cuts safety net
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget chief delivered a spirited defense of the plan’s deep spending cuts, but his agriculture secretary offered only a halfhearted endorsement of proposed reductions to farm subsidies and food stamps.
A day after the budget’s release, a handful of senior administration officials fanned out on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, facing tough questions from Democrats opposed to the blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year and Republicans skeptical about the administration’s math.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, meanwhile, gave Republicans the unwelcome news that they may have to cast a dreaded vote on increasing the government’s borrowing authority before they had hoped.
Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced a grilling from Democrats over funding private schools with taxpayer money.
Here’s the rundown on the budget hearings:
Budget chief: White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney gave an unapologetic defense of Trump proposals to slash programs related to the environment, education, health care for the poor and foreign aid.
The former tea party congressman told the budget committee that he went line by line through the federal budget and asked, “Can we justify this to the folks who are actually paying for it?”
Democrats charged that Trump’s cuts would rip apart the social safety net.
Rep. Pramila Jayapal, DWash., told Mulvaney that the proposed cuts to food stamps, payments to the disabled and other programs are “astonishing and frankly immoral.”
“When you say ‘cut,’ are you speaking Washington or regular language?” Mulvaney shot back.
Food and farm fight: Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue was lukewarm in defending Trump’s budget to Democrats and some Republicans who rejected proposed cuts to farm programs and food stamps.
Trump’s budget would limit subsidies to farmers, including a cut in government help for purchasing popular crop insurance policies. Perdue said the nation has a dilemma in how to “right-size the budget” but acknowledged the concerns.
Democrats criticized a proposal for an almost 30 percent cut in food stamps. Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro called the budget “cruel,” “heartless,” “evil” and “inhumane.”
The Trump budget would also eliminate a program that ships American commodities to hungry people abroad.
Rep. Robert Aderholt, RAla., said that program “is something we should be proud of.”
School voucher battle:
DeVos faced pointed questions from lawmakers on whether funding private schools with taxpayer money would condone discrimination of LGBT, special needs and other students.
DeVos answered that it was not the federal government’s business, but was for states and locales to decide.
Clark then asked whether DeVos saw a role for the federal government to intervene if a private school rejected AfricanAmerican students, and DeVos repeated her answer.
“I am shocked that you could not provide one example of discrimination” that warrants federal intervention, Clark said.
Immigration jail beds:
Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly defended proposed budget cuts to state and local grant programs and a proposal to spend more than $2.7 billion to add thousands of new immigration jail beds despite steep declines of arrests along the Mexican border.
Debt limit deadline:
Mnuchin told the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee that he wants the so-called debt limit increased before lawmakers take their August vacation.