Trump's Budget Proposal Features Cuts In Safety Nets And Foreign Aid

President Donald Trump plans to present a $4.8 trillion budget on Monday, which will propose cuts in safety-net programs like Medicare and Medicaid.

What Happened

Trump’s budget will also propose a 21% cut in foreign aid for fiscal 2021. Reuter’s reports that Trump had tried to cut the foreign aid last year as well but had faced “steep resistance” from the Congress. 

The budget has the ambition to cut spending by $4.4 trillion over the next ten years, $2 trillion of that savings would be made from mandatory spending programs like $130 billion from Medicare prescription drug pricing and $292 billion from safety-net cuts such as food stamps and Medicaid. $70 billion would be saved by making eligibility for access to federal disability benefits tighter. 

Trump’s budgetary proposals are being associated with his plans for a possible second term. As an example, he will seek $2 billion in funding for his pet border wall project with Mexico. Trump’s border wall was a major campaign point during the 2016 elections, where he had said that the United States’ southern neighbor would pay for the wall.

Why It Matters

The president’s budget is mostly a vision statement and is not considered a policy paper. Since the Democrats have control of the House, it is unlikely that all of the proposals that are contained in the budget would be approved.

Cuts to safety-net programs will have a significant impact on the poor and elderly. Most of the cuts proposed by Trump are related to making changes in how doctors and hospitals are paid. Cuts to the National Institutes of Health with the National Cancer Institute likely to absorb the biggest cut.

Foreign aid cuts may affect programs related to U.S. civil footprint around the world. These programs are considered to reduce the need for military interventions globally.  In the upcoming fiscal year, $44.1 billion in foreign aid would be cut compared to $55.7 billion cuts made last year.