Trump calls for balanced budget by 2027

President Donald Trump unveiled his budget blueprint this morning, promising to balance the federal budget in a decade by slashing overall spending by $3.6 trillion. The budget blueprint is the clearest picture yet of the Trump administration’s monetary philosophy. The proposal asks for $616 billion in cuts to Medicaid over the next 10 years and tightens the eligibility for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program—commonly referred to as food stamps—saving nearly $200 billion. Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney called the proposal the “taxpayer-first” budget. He said the Trump administration was thinking more about the people who are paying taxes and focusing on how to justify funding programs rather than solely looking at people who benefit from them. Republicans in Congress will take the proposal into account while drafting a spending bill for the fiscal year 2018. But since passing a federal budget will need bipartisan support, Trump’s proposal likely will not remain intact.

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