Inside Trump’s $4.75 Trillion Budget: Inflated Economic Expectations, Sharp Cuts To Safety Net Programs, Red Meat For His Base
President Donald Trump released his $4.75 trillion budget, which included a big increase in military spending and deep cuts to other domestic spending. The presidential budget is all but dead-on-arrival on Capitol Hill and can be viewed more as a symbolic roadmap for priorities than a realistic spending plan. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called Trump's cuts "cruel and shortsighted ... a roadmap to a sicker, weaker America," while other Democrats were also quick to condemn the proposal.
The New York Times:
Trump Proposes A Record $4.75 Trillion Budget
President Trump sent Congress on Monday a record $4.75 trillion budget request that calls for increased military spending and sharp cuts to domestic programs like education and environmental protection for the 2020 fiscal year. (Tankersley and Tackett, 3/11)
The Washington Post:
Trump’s 2020 Budget: The Top 10 Takeaways
The biggest losers: Under Trump’s budget proposal, 10 major departments and agencies would see their budgets slashed by 10 percent (or more) in the next year alone: Agriculture, Education, Energy, Health and Human Services, Housing and Urban Development, Interior, State, Transportation, Corps of Engineers, and the Environmental Protection Agency. (Long, 3/11)
The Associated Press:
Highlights Of Trump's $4.7 Trillion Budget Request
Under Trump's proposal, the budget deficit is projected to hit $1.1 trillion next year — the highest in a decade. The administration is counting on robust economic growth, including from the 2017 Republican tax cuts, to push down the red ink. (3/11)
The Washington Post:
Trump 2020 Budget To Include Big Domestic Cuts, $8.6 Billion For Border Wall
The budget proposal ran into an immediate buzz saw on Capitol Hill, where many Democrats flatly rejected it and even some Republicans sought to distance themselves from key details. (Paletta, Werner and Stein, 3/11)
The Associated Press:
Pelosi Rejects Trump's Proposed Budget Cuts As 'Cruel'
President Donald Trump proposed a record $4.7 trillion budget, pushing the federal deficit past $1 trillion but counting on optimistic growth, accounting shuffles and steep domestic cuts to bring future spending into balance in 15 years. Reviving his border wall fight with Congress, Trump wants more than $8 billion for the barrier with Mexico, and he's also asking for a big boost in military spending. That's alongside steep cuts in health care and economic support programs for the poor that Democrats — and even some Republicans — will oppose. (3/12)
The Washington Post:
Trump 2020 Budget: Which Department Budgets Would Be Cut
While the cuts are unlikely to become reality — Congress has rejected many of Trump’s previous requests — the budget is an important signal of the administration’s priorities and suggests a major funding fight in October. (Rabinowitz and Uhrmacher, 3/11)
The Hill:
Dems Unite Against Trump's Budget — But Challenges Coming
House Democrats are banding together this week in opposition to President Trump’s 2020 budget proposal, but the unity may prove to be short-lived as party leaders prepare their own budget blueprint in the weeks ahead. Democrats are coming off of a trying week following an uproar over controversial remarks from freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) — an episode that both distracted from their ambitious legislative agenda and exposed internal fissures within the diverse caucus. (Lillis, 3/12)
The Wall Street Journal:
White House Proposes $4.7 Trillion Budget For Fiscal 2020
“The lack of seriousness that the president brings to budget negotiations only further damages his relationship with Congress,” Rep. Bennie Thompson (D., Miss.), chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, said Monday. “Democrats wholeheartedly reject his proposal.” (Davidson, 3/11)
Los Angeles Times:
For A President Who Doesn’t Sweat Details, A New $4.7-Trillion Budget Gets Short Shrift
While past presidents used the release of their annual spending plans as an opportunity to lay out short- and long-term visions, and to influence subsequent negotiations on Capitol Hill, Trump has taken the lack of regard for budgets to new lows, reflecting his own lack of interest in policy details, his administration’s thin staffing and its overall ambivalence about the nitty-gritty of policy-making. (Bierman, 3/11)
The Hill:
Five Takeaways From Trump's Budget
The president’s budget proposal was a stark reminder that his political base is his most important audience. The proposal is riddled with red meat for dedicated GOP voters. It includes promises to repeal and replace ObamaCare and to institute work requirements for anti-poverty programs such as food stamps. It puts money toward school voucher programs and proposes $2.7 trillion worth of cuts to government programs over a decade. (Elis, 3/11)
