Trump budget boosts military spending, cuts to other departments

In the first budget of his presidency, President Donald Trump plans to increase military spending and cut discretionary spending.

The budget underscores what has been an increasingly common theme: Because Trump vowed to increase military spending, without tackling entitlements such as Social Security and Medicare, which account for a whopping 64.63 percent of the budget – he will be forced to increasingly cut programs including education, transportation, energy, arts and national parks.

The budget proposes to eliminate nearly 20 federal agencies, including the Corporation for Public Broadcasting; the Institute of Museum and Library Services; the National Endowment for the Art; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation and the United States Institute of Peace.

Five major agencies listed in a supplementary table would see an increase in Trump’s budget: Defense, Veterans, Homeland Security, the National Nuclear Security Agency and the Social Security Administration. The rest would see cuts, with some sweeping, such as a 28.7 cut for the State Department.

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The nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget called Trump’s spending plan woefully lacking in detail.

Maya MacGuineas, president of the Washington D.C. nonprofit, said in a statement:

“We understand that the new administration needs time to develop its comprehensive budget plan, but there is too little information and too few details to evaluate the budget. Generally, skinny budgets include proposals in all areas and show what these proposals will mean for deficits and debt over the next decade. This budget only gives us a picture of one and a half years and proposes changes to the 30 percent of spending that is discretionary.

“We need 100 percent of a plan for 10 years. Not 30 percent of a plan for just more than one year.”

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