Donald Trump is now basically working completely alone, operating without consulting either party — and he’s even managed to piss off the spineless, blindly loyal Republican Party with his latest move.
Politico has reported that the Trump administration is preparing to request an additional $174 billion in a budget proposal, a move that is being opposed by both sides of the political aisle as many lawmakers are calling the extra cash a “slush fund.” Politico wrote:
The White House plans to stuff as much as $174 billion of its $750 billion request for national defense for the coming fiscal year into a special war fund.
His plan would evade federal budget limits by stashing nearly a quarter of that money in an off-the-books account.”
And even though many members of his own party are upset about this proposal, the president has every intention of going through with it. Rep. Mac Thornberry (R-TX) weighed in and said:
It’s ridiculous if that’s what they do.”
House Budget Chairman John Yarmuth (D-KY) has stated there would be no way in hell Trump would get a green light on this. He said:
It’s definitely a non-starter. It would be an insult to the process to do that.”
Politico also said:
Lawmakers in both parties object to relying so heavily on what budget hawks have long derided as a Pentagon slush fund. Unless both parties can negotiate a deal to lift the spending caps, it could mean a quick demise for the military’s ambitious investment plans, which got a two-year boost last year under a bipartisan deal that raised spending for the military as well as other government agencies.”
Politico reported that the president is likely doing this to find a way around budget restraints while trying to avoid violating a 2011 law put in place to rein in the deficit:
Under the plan, the Pentagon would request $576 billion for its main budget, equal to the spending cap, along with up to $174 billion in spending for the Overseas Contingency Operations fund — for a total of $750 billion. Since the war account is exempt from limits set by the 2011 budget law, it has been a battleground in annual fights over defense spending. Though meant to fund wartime needs and unforeseen national security contingencies — like the wars in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria — the account has been used to skirt spending caps and fund enduring programs with little connection to U.S. war efforts.”
Once again, the president has been caught trying to con America. If the president moves ahead with this, he’s going to lose a ton of GOP support — and he deserves to.
Featured image via screen capture
