President Donald Trump's budget request has been met with fury and contempt — by Republicans.
According to Politico, Trump's budget seeks to slash $163 billion from non-defense programs, many of which Trump has already paused or frozen by executive order. The move "pressures Republican lawmakers to cleave more than 20 percent from federal coffers Trump has already been freezing without their approval since Inauguration Day.
"Congress isn’t accustomed to cutting anywhere near what Trump is proposing, amplifying tension between the White House and congressional Republicans as GOP leadership works to fund the government before the Sept. 30 shutdown deadline."
Already, Democrats have slammed the proposal, noting that it eliminates funding for programs ranging from FEMA disaster relief to heating-oil subsidies for poor households, yet somehow keeps the funding for Trump's vacations to play golf.
But this proposal for "obliterating" spending for many federal programs is far beyond what even a number of crucial Republican lawmakers are willing to do, according to the report.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), for example, in her capacity as chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, "publicly objected to the administration’s request to keep the military funded at about $893 billion, while criticizing Trump’s proposed cuts to biomedical research, education support programs for low-income households and subsidies to help the poorest Americans cover the cost of heating and cooling their homes.
Meanwhile, Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who heads up defense funding in the Senate, "slammed the White House budget office for asking Congress to keep defense spending static for the upcoming fiscal year, saying in a statement that the extra cash Republican leaders are hoping to pour on through the tax and spending megabill they are hoping to enact this summer is 'not a substitute for full-year appropriations.'”
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He added that, “OMB accounting gimmicks may well convince Administration officials and spokesmen that they’re doing enough to counter the growing, coordinated challenges we face from China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and radical terrorists. But they won’t fool Congress.”
Sen. Roger Wicker (R-MS) had even harsher criticism, saying that Trump's defense spending proposal is a "cut in real terms" and the White House appears to have “intent to shred to the bone our military capabilities and our support to servicemembers.”
Trump's Office of Management and Budget, which drafted the proposal, is headed by Russ Vought, a far-right activist who helped craft the Heritage Foundation's Project 2025 proposal to reshape the entire federal government to suit GOP ideology.
