Tuesday, May 23, 2017

Trump Budget Would Cut Safety Net Programs, Boost Defense Spending

President Donald Trump's 2018 budget proposal includes sweeping cuts to social spending for low-income Americans, including entitlement programs that the president promised to protect as a candidate, while boosting defense spending.

White House budget director Mick Mulvaney briefed reporters on the blueprint Monday, which seeks to eliminate the deficit in 10 years while avoiding cuts to Medicare and Social Security retirement benefits. The full budget is scheduled to come out on Tuesday morning.

"This is, I think, the first time in a long time the administration has written a budget through the eyes of the people paying the taxes," Mulvaney told reporters.

It would accomplish its savings goals via deep cuts to other safety-net programs. At the same time, it assumes that the White House's agenda of repealing Obamacare, reforming the tax code and investing in infrastructure will become law and unleash an economic boom that would further reduce deficits by $2 trillion over the next decade. 


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