Congressional Democrats are blasting President Trump’s newly released budget proposal that aims to cut nearly $12 billion in funds for the State Department and foreign assistance.
While the budget proposes a $4.8 trillion spending plan with $740.5 billion for national defense, the top Democrats on the House and Senate Foreign Relations committees say the cut to diplomatic spending is “reckless.”
“Like the President’s previous budgets, this year’s request is a waste of the paper it’s printed on,” Rep. Eliot Engel, chairman of the House panel, said in a statement Monday. The New York Democrat argued the proposed budget “would weaken our security and leadership around the world,” and vowed to reject the plan.
Sen. Robert Menendez, New Jersey Democrat and ranking member of the Senate panel, said he is “deeply disappointed” by the proposal to slash the State budget, which he called “not just short-sighted, it’s actually dangerous.”
Republicans, meanwhile, praised the 2021 budget proposal that aims to beef up the nation’s nuclear weapons programs with nearly $50 billion directed toward nuclear modernization and homeland defense.
Rep. Mike Turner, Ohio Republican and ranking member of the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, called the budget a “strong step forward in keeping our country safe,” and applauded the request for additional funds to modernize the nuclear arsenal.
