CONGRESS writes the budget, not the president. That means Donald Trump’s radical budget blueprint, released on March 16th, is unlikely to be implemented in full. Yet it does reveal his priorities, and lawmakers will probably end up backing bits of it. The blueprint sets out the deep cuts Mr Trump wants to make to Washington’s bureaucracy. It contains plans for spending, but not tax.
Most eye-catching are a 31% proposed cut to the Environmental Protection Agency and a 28% cut to the Department of State. Much of the latter cut would fall on foreign aid. In every other department, Mr Trump would let the axe fall on spending that Republicans have long disliked. For example, funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which helps fund public radio, would disappear, as would the National Endowment for the Arts. The document implies that others should fill the gap left by the federal government. Sometimes, it points to state governments, as with “local environmental efforts and programs” such as restoring the Chesapeake Bay. Elsewhere, it is foreign governments who should pay up. For example, America would not contribute more than 25% to UN peacekeeping costs, down...Continue reading
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