Mulvaney defends Trump budget as Democrats assail cuts as 'sledgehammer' to middle class

Record ID: 875666

  • Title: Mulvaney defends Trump budget as Democrats assail cuts as 'sledgehammer' to middle class
  • Date: 23rd May 2017
  • Summary: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES (MAY 23, 2017) (REUTERS) TRUMP BUDGET BOOK DISPLAYED ON TABLE TRUMP BUDGET BOOK COVER READS "A NEW FOUNDATION FOR AMERICAN GREATNESS" TRUMP BUDGET BOOK DISPLAYED ON TABLE
  • Embargoed: 6th June 2017 18:50
  • Keywords: Bernie Sanders Chuck Schumer Donald Trump healthcare White House Mick Mulvaney budget
  • Location: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City: WASHINGTON D.C., UNITED STATES
  • Country: USA
  • Topics: Budget/Taxation/Revenue,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA0046I29OW7
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text:U.S. President Donald Trump wants lawmakers to slash $3.6 trillion in government spending over the next decade, taking aim in his first budget plan at healthcare and food assistance programs for the poor while boosting the military.
    The Trump proposal which debuted on Tuesday (May 23) is unlikely to be approved by lawmakers in its current form, but document makes Trump's budget priorities clear and lays down a marker with Congress. Trump seeks to balance the budget by the end of the decade, according to a preview given to reporters. The biggest savings would come from cuts to the Medicaid healthcare program for the poor made as part of a Republican healthcare bill passed by the House of Representatives.
    Trump, who is traveling overseas this week, wants lawmakers to cut more than $800 billion from Medicaid and more than $192 billion from food stamps.
    There is some new spending in his plan for fiscal year 2018, which starts in October. The Pentagon would get a spending hike, and there would be a $1.6 billion down payment to begin building a wall along the border with Mexico, which was a central promise of Trump's presidential campaign.
    Trump's proposal foresees selling half of the U.S. emergency oil stockpile, created in 1975 after the Arab oil embargo caused fears of price spikes. The announcement surprised oil markets, and briefly pulled down U.S. crude prices.
    Democrats on Tuesday took aim at the plan, saying it prioritizes tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans while taking a "sledgehammer' to the middle-class.
    Republicans are under pressure to deliver on promised tax cuts, the cornerstone of the Trump administration's pro-business economic agenda, which would cut the business tax rate to 15 percent from 35 percent, and reduce the number of personal tax brackets.
    The Trump administration's plan to halve the nation's emergency oil stockpile would not harm the domestic oil sector and could be done without a severe impact on prices, the White House's budget director said on Tuesday.
    "If you do it slowly, if you telegraph it over the course of time, there's a way to do it without a dramatic impact on prices," White House Budget Director Muck Mulvaney told reporters at a White House briefing.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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