President Donald Trump is scheduled to reveal his proposed budget on Tuesday, but ahead of the reveal, sources familiar with the budget plan revealed that the budget proposal would include big cuts to things like entitlements and Medicaid as well as other “safety net” policies.
The budget would reportedly follow through on House Republicans’ plans to cut Medicaid by $800 billion over 10 years, plans that go directly against Senate Republicans’ expressed desires not to roll back the expansion of Medicaid that was so successful under Obamacare.
In addition, anti-poverty programs such as welfare and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will reportedly have more flexibility for states to impose more work requirements “for able-bodied Americans” on the program.
For conservatives, these changes are exactly what they are looking for to combat what they see as too much reliance on the government.
However, Democrats have railed against such cuts, with Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer saying that Trump’s proposed budget would pull “the rug out from so many who need help.”
“This budget continues to reveal President Trump’s true colors: His populist campaign rhetoric was just a Trojan horse to execute long-held, hard-right policies that benefit the ultra wealthy at the expense of the middle class,” he said.
On the other hand, while the proposed budget would cut funding to programs like Medicaid, Trump has proposed tax cuts, such as cuts to the estate tax, capital gains and business tax rates.
In order to offset the tax cuts, the safety net cuts would allow the White House to claim a more balanced budget so they can say they are addressing the budget deficit as well as addressing what conservatives call a dependency on government programs. However, Trump will have a hard time getting even his fellow Republicans behind the plan, as some have said that the spending cuts are far too severe and that they cannot get behind them.