President Trump will unveil his fiscal 2020 budget request to Congress on Monday which calls for $2.7 trillion in spending cuts and balances in 15 years, according to the White House budget office.
The budget from the White House is the first the president will send to a divided Congress, and the proposal is likely to face fierce opposition from the new Democrat-controlled House. But Trump’s spending plan highlights a number of his priorities, including strengthening border security to address the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border, and tackling the opioid crisis.
“In the last two, President Trump and this administration have prioritized reining in reckless Washington spending,” acting Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought said in a statement. “The budget that we have presented to Congress and the American people, ‘A Budget for a Better America,’ embodies fiscal responsibility, and takes aim at Washington’s waste, fraud, and abuse.”
The 2020 budget, Vought added, “will balance in 15 years, end runaway spending, and secure prosperity for future generations.”
Since Trump took office, the national debt has risen more than $2 trillion and currently stands at more than $22 trillion, a record high. But the president’s budget takes aim at government spending by calling for a 5 percent reduction in nondefense discretionary spending that will keep the budget under statutory spending caps. With the proposals included in the request for Congress, projections indicate the budget would be balanced by 2034, according to the Office of Management and Budget. – MORE