Trump submits $4.8tn budget proposal despite no chance of it passing – By Edward Helmore (The Guardian) / Feb 10 2020
2021 plan includes $700bn increase over federal spending in 2018 and billions for defense alongside cuts to foreign aid
The Trump administration has submitted to Congress its 2021 budget proposal, a $4.8tn plan which has no chance of passing into law and is instead a purely political exercise, designed to put daylight between the Republican president and whichever Democratic candidate he will face at the polls in November.
To Donald Trump, every event on the presidential stage is now a re-election pitch to voters. Democratic presidential contenders will pick over his budget proposals for lines to attack on the stump.
Trump’s wish list includes a $700bn increase over federal spending in 2018 and represents as clear a statement of Republican priorities as the administration is likely to produce. It includes billions more for defense and a mission to Mars alongside deep proposed cuts to foreign aid and environmental protection and new restrictions on social welfare programs.
On Saturday, Trump tweeted a promise that “we will not be touching your Social Security or Medicare in Fiscal 2021 Budget”.
Continue to article: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/feb/10/trump-budget-plan-2021-congress
