How big will
the spending cuts be in Trump’s budget? By Natalia Castro
As the legislative branch begins
considering ways to use the power of the purse, President Donald Trump’s newly
appointed White House Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney is
weighing options on ways to cut $4 trillion U.S. budget.
The
New York Times released what it called the
“White House hit list” for federal programs, naming the offices Trump and Mulvaney
would likely propose be shut down by Congress, according to an internal memo
obtained by the paper.
On the chopping block could be the
Export-Import Bank, the Legal Services Corporation, the Corporation for Public
Broadcasting including NPR, AmeriCorps, SeniorCorps, the White House’s Office
of National Drug Control Policy, the Overseas Private Investment Corporation
and the National Endowment for the Arts and Humanities.
Naturally, critics are already
blasting the possible cuts Mulvaney will be making — his strict fiscal lens has
made him a target for liberal scrutiny — but as the president’s budget will not
be published until March, these assumptions remain speculative.
On the side, Mulvaney has been
praised for his eagerness to eliminate government waste. USA
Today’s Eliza Collins describes Mulvaney as “a crusader
for federal budget cuts” and sites his past in the conservative Freedom Caucus
as evidence of his willingness to fight for budget reductions. There, Mulvaney
pushed for a conservative fiscal agenda, including taking the risk of a
government shutdown in order to ensure critical cuts were made to budget plans.
Conservatives for their part are
hoping that Mulvaney will now deliver strengthened fiscal control. The
Heritage Foundation proposed key program cuts in
2014 which have prevailed despite economic losses, eliminating grant programs
within the Departments of Housing and Urban Development and Education could
save an upwards of $5 billion and remove federal intervention on state issues.
Other areas Mulvaney could take a
look at are working with Energy Secretary Rick Perry to cut wasteful
spending that seems to be ingrained in bureaucratic failure. From 1973 to 2012
alone, the National Center for Policy Analysis reports the Department of Energy spent $154.7 billion
on renewable energy programs which have yet to produce commercially viable
technologies.
While Mulvaney’s agenda can still
only be speculated, there is one area he has maintained consistent support; the
defunding on the Ex-Im
Bank. Mulvaney has consistently seen it
as the symbol of crony capitalism that it is and advocated for its termination,
now with the power of the budget he can finally enact this goal.
As Mulvaney moves into the Trump
administration the budget will be his opportunity to show the president is
committed to fighting for conservative fiscal policy. And with liberals already
waiting eagerly, Trump’s proposed budget cuts could be the front of the next
political battleground.
Natalia
Castro is a contributing editor at Americans for Limited Government.
Comments
There are
a lot more cuts that need to be made. Grants to non-profits fund riots. Grants
to Universities fund Junk Science and globalist propaganda. Federal
implementation of UN Agenda 21 costs $billions a year. Foreign aid is meant to
bribe tyrants to behave, but they don’t. Program duplication is rampant. Grants
to States bribe legislatures to do the wrong things.
Norb
Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader
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