President Trump would pay for his proposed $54-billion increase in military spending in fiscal 2018 by cutting domestic discretionary programs by 15 percent, said the think tank Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “The president’s proposal would continue a severe, multi-year squeeze” on discretionary programs such as education, job training, clean water, and medical and scientific research, said the think tank.
Trump is to address a joint session of Congress tonight on his budget plans and, the White House says, “his vision for the future of the country … as he moves forward with his plans to take on the many challenges facing this nation.”
“President Trump is proposing slashing programs that help hungry and poor people,” said David Beckman, head of the anti-hunger group Bread for the World. “These programs include nutrition assistance in the United States and aid to poor and hungry people around the world. This comes when 20 million people are at risk of famine in South Sudan and elsewhere in Africa. Everyone should be alarmed by these cuts.”
Press aides for the USDA and the leaders of the Senate and House Agriculture committees had no immediate comment on the outlook for farm supports and food stamps. They are entitlements, or so-called mandatory spending, and not covered by the proposed cuts in discretionary programs. At USDA, discretionary spending includes programs such as meat inspection, agricultural research and some conservation programs but not the Conservation Reserve.
“Trump’s call for deep cuts to spending at home is likely to set up major battles on Capitol Hill, where Democrats and even House Republicans will likely be reluctant to pass a spending bill that includes such major reductions in programs for their constituents,” said the Los Angeles Times.
In a blog, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities said the cuts in domestic spending “should not be viewed in isolation. They are part of an emerging fiscal agenda that also includes large tax cuts for the wealthy, losses in affordable health care coverage for low- and middle-income Americans and cuts in entitlements outside of Medicare and Social Security, likely including those that help struggling families who’ve been left out of the nation’s prosperity.” It said a 15-percent cut would be needed to generate $54 billion in savings, assuming that the Department of Homeland Security was exempt from cuts and and an already-approved increase for the Veterans Administration is not touched.
The New York Times said “tens of billions of dollars in cuts” were planned for the EPA and the State Department. “Social safety net programs, aside from the big retirement programs for retirees, would also be hit hard.”