President Trump’s fiscal 2021 budget set for release on Monday was written with an eye on the 2020 election, with boosts to programs the public support, cuts in those that, for years, conservative presidents have promised but never delivered on, and a long-term promise to cut the deficit.
In briefings Secrets attended and documents from the administration, Trump, for example, is the first president to make good on decades of pledges to cut foreign aid and spending on the United Nations.
Officials said that the cut to the U.N. would be “a lot,” and foreign aid trimmed $170 million, or 21%, by targeting wasteful and sometimes silly funding to programs that would, for example, “support the Muppet Retrospectacle in New Zealand.”
On the positive side, Trump wants another $2 billion for the border wall. That is far less than in past years, but officials said it is because the administration has secured enough money, $18 billion, to pay for 80% of the wall.
He would also increase spending for the Veterans Administration by 13%, NASA by 12%, and Homeland Security by 3%.
And he plans to move the Secret Service from Homeland Security back to the Treasury Department.
His $4.8 trillion “Budget for America’s Future” also highlights cuts he wants and has requested in the past but that have been brushed aside by Congress.
The Environmental Protection Agency, for example, would be cut by 26%. Officials called the EPA “bloated” and said it is continuing programs that are no longer needed and wading into areas that should be handled by state governments.
Since the government is operating on a two-year budget, his budget is more of a political document than a list of numbers. It sets his priorities and focus for the election year and beyond.
“He has a different way of approaching spending than other presidents,” said one official, who hopes the public will evaluate it and vote for its approach in the fall election.
“We’re going to have a national election that will hopefully decide that Congress is going to be on the side of the American people and taxpayers who balance their family budgets,” said the official.
As an example, Trump wants to change the way the government hands out grants. As it recently did with money headed to Puerto Rico, he wants to put conditions on money, so it isn’t simply a gift.
“We should no longer give people free money,” said a Trump official. “We’re creating more friction in the spending of federal dollars.”
Trump is also putting a focus on rural America by increasing spending for roads, healthcare, and internet service.
And even though his own staff is divided over spending and budget cuts, he plans to call for changes that will lead to a balanced budget in 15 years.
“It’s not too late to bend the curve of these spending trajectories before we get into a situation that would be worse,” said an official, raising the specter of a Greece-type of crash if spending is curbed in the coming decade.
To reinforce that message, a senior administration official said Sunday, “From day one, President Trump has taken deficits and spending very seriously — which is why the Trump administration has proposed more spending cuts than any administration in history. Getting our fiscal house in order with a budget that balances in 15 years will eliminate unnecessary spending and save $4.6 trillion over 10 years. For the first time ever, the FY21 budget will include a specific chapter defining waste, fraud, and abuse within the federal government. Our budget makes very clear that America will remain a global leader when it comes to industries of the future, preventing emerging threats to fill the void.”
