Monday, February 27, 2017

Trump Budget Plan Boosts Defense Over Safety Net, Diplomacy


First Read is a morning briefing from Meet the Press and the NBC Political Unit on the day's most important political stories and why they matter

Ahead of President Trump's speech to Congress tomorrow night, his administration will release a budget outline Monday calling for a "massive" increase in spending for the military, intelligence, and homeland security, NBC's Peter Alexander reports. But to offset those hikes, the Trump administration will propose spending reductions in other agencies and social safety net programs. "Mr. Trump will demand a budget with tens of billions of dollars in reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department, according to four senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the plan. Social safety net programs, aside from the big entitlement programs for retirees, would also be hit hard," the New York Times says. Now remember, budget outlines are merely an administration's wish list. Congress ultimately decides -- with the president's signature, of course — on how the money gets spent. But now more than one month into Trump's presidency, we're seeing what his budget priorities are — defense over diplomacy, homeland security over the safety net.  

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Source: NBC News 

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