Trump’s budget blueprint faces uphill battle
Plans to slash domestic programs, foreign aid draw bipartisan opposition
The Trump administration’s budget blueprint faced heavy opposition in Congress on Thursday, including from Republican allies concerned about deep cuts in some domestic programs to offset a $ 54 billion boost for military spending.
Several Republicans balked at doubledigit reductions in programs from foreign aid to the Environmental Protection Agency, as well as the outright elimination of programs that include the National Endowment for Arts and legal aid for the poor.
All the targeted programs have bipartisan constituencies that can block Trump’s plans, inspiring a familiar refrain in Congress when other presidents submitted their budget plans: dead on arrival.
Rep. Chris Collins, R- N. Y., a longtime supporter of Trump, said the president is “keeping the promises he made to the American people.” Still, Collins said he has concerns about significant cuts proposed for the National Institutes of Health budget, including “the 21st Century Cures Initiative” that he helped write.
Other Republicans, including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, objected to steep cuts in foreign aid in what the Trump administration calls an “America First” budget.
The foreign aid cuts are among proposed reductions totaling 29% of the State Department budget.
“This budget shifts the burden off of the wealthy and special interests and puts it squarely on the backs of the middle class and those struggling to get there,” said Senate Democratic leader Charles Schumer of New York.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R- Wis., described the plan as a “blueprint,” praising its goals but not endorsing it in total. “I look forward to reviewing this with the Appropriations Committee and our entire conference.”
Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney said the plan reflects what the president promised during his campaign.
“We wrote it using the president’s own words,” Mulvaney said. “We went through his speeches, we went through articles that have been written about his policies.
“We talked to him. We wanted to know what his policies were. We turned those policies into numbers.”
He added, “If he said it during the campaign, it’s in the budget.”
The spending outline is a preliminary budget that focuses on programs subject to annual changes by Congress. A complete budget will be submitted in May with tax- cut and health- care proposals and estimates for the cost of Social Security and Medicare, two massive programs Trump has pledged not to touch. The final plan also will include deficit estimates.
It’s hard to see Congress signing off on a Trump budget, and that would not be unusual. Congress hasn’t passed a traditional budget in years, opting instead to fund the government with a series of temporary spending bills.
As Congress ponders the proposals, interest groups are lining up for and against them.
“If Trump refuses to be serious about protecting our health and climate or our publicly owned lands, then Congress must act, do its job, and reject this rigged budget,” said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club.
David McIntosh, president of the conservative Club for Growth, said the Trump administration is beginning “the much- needed work of making major cuts in agencies like the EPA and ending the waste of taxpayer dollars that are being poured into things like federally funded TV and radio.”
Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, noted that discretionary spending is only 30% of the overall budget, and the Trump plan only covers spending for next year and a half.