President Trump’s shadow on a wall in the State Dining Room during a meeting of National Governors Association where he spoke about budget policy, in the White House in Washington, February 27, 2017. (Photo: Stephen Crowley / The New York Times)
The first Trump administration budget proposal will leave Social Security and Medicare benefits untouched, but other major federal programs face deep cuts.
When asked about reductions to the two major retirement programs, Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin told Fox News on Sunday: “Don’t expect to see that as part of this budget.” The administration, however, will be aiming to push for significant reductions in other unspecified “social safety net programs,” according to a report published the same day by The New York Times.
Full details have not yet been released by the White House. Congressional Republicans aren’t expecting a first budget outline from the Trump administration until March 13.
Welfare benefits that could be targeted include food stamps, housing assistance and the Earned Income Tax Credit. All three are among widely-used programs often decried as wasteful by well-financed right-wing operatives in Washington.
Any move to drastically reduce agencies and programs could see the White House face a revolt from within the federal bureaucracy, before lawmakers have their own say. The Times noted that pushback from agencies “could ease some of the deepest cuts in the initial plan before a final budget request is even sent to Congress.”
During the Presidential campaign, Trump repeatedly vowed to refrain from scaling back Social Security and Medicare benefits. The promise put him at odds with much of the Republican Party. Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), for example, has long called for Medicare to be…