We need to quit saying Trump cut funding to the CDC

[DeminPennswoods]

36. You do realize that budget requests are administration wish lists only, right?

Proposed budget documents are prepared by OMB an agency until just recently headed by tea party founder Mick Mulvaney. It should surprise exactly no one that it contains budget cuts to many, many programs and agencies because Mulvaney and his ilk don't believe in government or government spending.

Where the rubber meets the road is in the House Appropriations and Authorization bills for each cabinet department and sub-agency. These are the documents to compare when looking at FY to FY funding.

Assessing hiring freezes is trickier. Generally, those are expressed in FTEs (full time equivalent) positions that gives agencies some flexibility to hire more lower graded employees and fewer higher graded ones rather than letting vacancies remain where they occur. Vacancies in the offices where the agency's headquarters are, are not necessarily important to the day-to-day work.