President Trump will propose on Monday to reduce federal spending on safety net programs by billions of dollars, as well urging major cuts in other non-defense programs, according to administration sources who disclosed the plan to Politico.
At the same time, Trump will request a spending increase for the Pentagon as part of his $4.8 trillion budget plan for fiscal 2021.
The White House claims that Trump’s plan would reduce the federal deficit — now at a record high over $1 trillion — to $966 billion. Despite previous boasts by Trump that the budget will reach fiscal balance within ten years, this version acknowledges that the deficit will remain over $250 billion in 2030.
At least half of the anticipated savings, Politico reports, would derive from the administration’s plan to cut mandatory programs, with changes that would slash food stamp benefits and impose Medicaid work requirements. But those cuts, as the Politico reporters note, are “unlikely to be embraced by Congress.”
IMAGE: Mick Mulvaney, director of the Office of Management and Budget and acting White House chief of staff.
