b*****d
发帖数: 61690 | 1 FY17就要cut 1.2 billion from NIH.不过和他的budget一样，没戏。
Asked about including Southern border wall financing in the broader spending
package, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a key negotiator, said, "They will not pass
together. That's just my view."
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts
of $18 billion from programs like medical research, infrastructure and
community grants so U.S. taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment
on the border wall.
The White House documents were submitted to Congress amid negotiations over
a catchall spending bill that would avert a partial government shutdown at
the end of next month. The package would wrap up $1.1 trillion in unfinished
spending bills and address the Trump administration's request for an
immediate $30 billion in additional Pentagon spending.
The latest Trump proposal, disclosed Tuesday, would eliminate $1.2 billion
in National Institutes of Health research grants, a favorite of both parties
. The community development block grant program, also popular, would be
halved, amounting to a cut of $1.5 billion, and Trump would strip $500
million from a popular grant program for transportation projects.
Like Trump's 2018 proposed budget, which was panned by both Democrats and
Republicans earlier this month, the proposals have little chance of being
enacted.
But they could create bad political optics for the struggling Trump White
House, since the administration asked earlier for $3 billion to pay for the
Trump's controversial U.S.-Mexico border wall and other immigration
enforcement plans. During the campaign, Trump repeatedly promised Mexico
would pay for the wall, a claim the country has disputed.
"The administration is asking the American taxpayer to cover the cost of a
wall — unneeded, ineffective, absurdly expensive — that Mexico was
supposed to pay for, and he is cutting programs vital to the middle class to
get that done," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y. "Build
the wall or repair or build a bridge or tunnel or road in your community?
What's the choice?"
The roster of cuts were sent to Capitol Hill as a set of options for GOP
staff aides and lawmakers crafting a catchall spending bill for the ongoing
budget year, which ends Sept. 30.
Those talks are intensifying, but Senate Republicans are considering backing
away from a showdown with Democrats over whether to fund Trump's request
for immediate funding to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. Senate
Democrats have threatened to filibuster any provision providing money for
the wall. And many Republicans aren't very enthusiastic about it and say the
White House hasn't given them many specifics to go on.
"I'd like to hear the details. What is this wall?" asked Sen. John McCain, R
-Ariz.
Asked about including Southern border wall financing in the broader spending
package, Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., a key negotiator, said, "They will not pass
together. That's just my view."
Blunt added, "My view is there's a path to get 60 votes" in the Senate, the
total required to overcome a Democratic filibuster. Blunt is a member of the
Senate GOP leadership team and a major player on health and human services
accounts.
The government would shut down except for some functions at midnight April
28 without successful action on spending. GOP leaders are eager to avoid a
politically damaging shutdown, especially in the wake of last week's
embarrassing failure to pass the Trump-pushed bill to repeal and replace
former President Barack Obama's health care law.
Negotiators have made progress on the core elements of a dozen must-do
funding bills, but have ignored the White House's list of cuts in doing so.
But the White House badly wants funding for the Mexico wall and hasn't fully
engaged in the Capitol Hill negotiations. Pitfalls lay ahead in the talks,
and the situation is especially fragile because of divisions among GOP ranks
and uncertainty over who's playing the lead role at the White House on the
particulars of budget work.
According to new details sent to Congress, the administration wants
immediate funds to complete an existing barrier in the Rio Grande Valley, $
500 million to complete 28 miles of border levee wall near McAllen, Texas,
and $350 million for construction along two segments near San Diego.
Other cuts include $434 million to immediately eliminate a program to
encourage community service opportunities for senior citizens, eliminating $
372 million in remaining funding for heating subsidies for the poor, and
cutting $447 million in transit grants.
White House budget office spokesman John Czwartacki said the proposals were
not being shared with the media. A Capitol Hill aide described the cuts to
The Associated Press, speaking only on condition of anonymity because the
budget document is not yet public. |
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