Trump budget plan would fail to eliminate deficit over 10 years, briefing document shows
The White House is preparing to propose a budget that would fail to eliminate the federal deficit over the next 10 years, according to an internal summary of the plan obtained by The Washington Post, missing a longtime GOP fiscal target.
Instead, White House officials plan to say that their budget proposal would close the deficit by 2035. During Trump’s first year in office, his advisers said their budget plan would eliminate the deficit by around 2028. This new budget will mark the third consecutive time that they abandon that 10-year goal and instead suggest a 15-year target. This new trend shows how little progress the White House is making in dealing with ballooning government debt, something party leaders had made a top goal during the Obama administration.
Trump has shown little interest in dealing with the deficit and debt, though some GOP party leaders say it remains a priority. The last budget of Trump’s first term, expected to be publicly released on Monday, also calls for about $2 trillion in cuts to “non-defense discretionary programs,” a category of government spending that does not include Social Security or Medicare.
The White House promised to close the federal deficit over a similar amount of time in its budget last year, after abandoning its initial pledge to close the budget deficit in 10 years. As a presidential candidate, Trump vowed to eliminate not just the annual federal deficit but all debt held by the U.S. after eight years in office.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2020/02/09/trump-budget-plan-would-fail-eliminate-deficit-over-10-years-briefing-document-shows/
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