President Trump vowed to put forward a healthcare reform plan sometime next month, promising to deliver “tremendous” fixes to a federal budget he described as a “mess” on Wednesday during a budget preparation meeting.
“Unfortunately, the budget that we’re inheriting…is a mess. The finances of our country are a mess. But we’re going to clean them up,” Trump said.
Gary Cohn, chairman of the National Economic Council, Mick Mulvaney, newly-confirmed director of the Office of Management and Budget, Reince Priebus, Trump’s chief of staff, and Steve Bannon, Trump’s chief strategist, were all among the attendees at the White House meeting on Wednesday.
Trump told reporters before the closed-door budget discussions that the White House would release its highly-anticipated healthcare reform plan by “maybe mid to early March.”
“We’ll be submitting something that I think people will be very impressed by,” Trump said.
The president promised to cut spending across the federal government, referring to negotiations over F-35 contracts and the contract for a new Air Force One, both of which Trump pursued quickly after winning the election.
“We’ll be directing all of our departments and agencies to protect every last American and every last tax dollar. No more wasted money,” Trump said. “We’re going to be spending the money in a very, very careful manner.”
Sean Spicer, White House press secretary, declined to lay out an exact timeline later on Wednesday, but suggested a flurry of budget-related activity is on the horizon.
“You’ve got Obamacare, the budget and tax reforms,” Spicer said. “It’s going to be a very busy March and April for us.”
The continuing resolution that is presently funding the government will expire on April 28. Congress must pass a funding alternative before that date or risk a government shutdown.
