Trump's budget blueprint faces heavy opposition
WASHINGTON — The Trump administration says its proposed budget blueprint, and the steep cuts in domestic programs it envisions, is in many ways a campaign document — one that faces heavy opposition and enters a contest in Congress as a decided underdog.
Even some Republicans balk at some of the proposed double-digit reductions in programs ranging from foreign aid to the Environmental Protection Agency, with outright eliminations of programs that run from the National Endowment for Arts to legal aid for the poor.
All are programs with bipartisan constituencies that can block Trump's plans, inspiring a familiar refrain from opponents in describing the budget plan: dead on arrival.
"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 Chuck Schumer of New York.
Rep. Chris Collins, R-N.Y., a longtime supporter of Trump, said the president is "keeping the promises he made to the American people," but he added that he has several concerns about significant cuts to local programs. Collins cited proposed cuts to the National Institutes of Health, including "the 21st Century Cures Initiative," which he helped to write.
House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., described the plan as a "blueprint," praising its goals but not endorsing it in total.
"We are determined to work with the administration to shrink the size of government, grow our economy, secure our borders, and ensure our troops have the tools necessary to complete their missions," Ryan said. "I look forward to reviewing this with the Appropriations Committee and our entire conference.”
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Trump budget director Mick Mulvaney said the plan reflects what the president campaigned on.
"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."
Mulvaney and aides pledged to work with Congress on the inevitable disputes, saying this is not a "take it or leave" kind of plan.
Indeed, top Republicans like Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky have objected to steep cuts in foreign aid that are included in Trump's proposal.
The plan calls for a $54 billion hike in defense spending, to be offset by equal reductions in domestic programs.
Defending his budget plan on Twitter, Trump said an "America First" budget "must make safety its no. 1 priority — without safety there can be no prosperity."
This is also not a final budget plan, but the first of several phases. Mulvaney called it a "skinny budget" that focuses on discretionary spending. A fuller budget will be submitted in May, he said, and it will include tax policy, health care and the massive programs like Social Security and Medicare (which Trump has pledged not to touch).
It's hard to see Congress signing off on a Trump budget, and that would not necessarily be unusual. Congress hasn't passed a budget in the traditional sense in years, opting instead to fund the government with a series of temporary spending bills.
Still, interest groups are gearing up to campaign for and against the Trump budget blueprint.
"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.
Conservative groups that have long called for a reduction of the federal government applauded the Trump budget proposal.
David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth, mocked the "weeping and gnashing of teeth" by various "bureaucrats and politicians" over the budget. He 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."
Budget analysts noted that, in any event, the budget blueprint unveiled Thursday lacks detail.
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.
"We need 100% of a plan for 10 years," she said, "not 30% of a plan for just more than one year."
