Trump to Address Taxes, Health Care in Speech to Congress
February 26 2017 - 9:51PM
Dow Jones News
By Kristina Peterson and Nick Timiraos
WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump's first budget will seek a
large increase in military funding but won't make changes to the
largest future drivers of government spending: Social Security and
Medicare.
Work to prepare the president's first budget proposal, expected
to be released in mid-March, ramped up last week following the Feb.
16 confirmation of Mick Mulvaney as director of the Office of
Management and Budget.
The White House plans to send federal agencies their proposed
budget allocations on Monday, a person familiar with the matter
said. Mr. Trump will preview some of the budget priorities in his
speech to Congress on Tuesday and release a budget outline in
mid-March after gathering information from federal agencies.
The president's budget proposal marks the opening of the
monthslong process to set funding levels for the following year.
Spending bills originate with Congress and need 60 votes to clear
procedural hurdles in the Senate.
In his address to Congress, Mr. Trump also is expected to
emphasize two of his top legislative priorities: simplifying the
tax code and dismantling the Affordable Care Act and replacing it
with something else, White House officials said Sunday.
Speaking Sunday on Fox News, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin
said the budget outline won't include any changes to entitlement
spending programs. "We are not touching those now. So don't expect
to see that as part of this budget," he said.
Mr. Mnuchin, in an interview last week, said an increase in
military spending "is an important priority, and I think it's
likely that you'll see that reflected in the president's
budget."
By pushing for more military funding and taking entitlement
spending changes off the table, the Trump administration also would
need to propose funding cuts for nondefense programs to avoid
sending deficits much higher.
Mr. Trump, for example, is expected to seek cuts at the
Environmental Protection Agency and in other areas of domestic
spending.
Congressional Republicans have said they would look to Mr.
Trump's speech for hints about the first budget proposal his
administration will send to Capitol Hill, expected in
mid-March.
Although Mr. Trump repeatedly said on the campaign trail he
didn't want to reduce spending on Medicare or Social Security, Mr.
Mulvaney has long advocated for sharply lowering federal spending,
including on entitlement programs.
Given that Mr. Trump plans to boost military spending and cut
taxes, the White House budget plan could leave conservatives in a
difficult position if the GOP-led budget does little to curb
spending.
"You have got to pay for those things. We've got to pay for
those things, " Rep. Jim Jordan (R., Ohio), an influential
conservative lawmaker, said Sunday on ABC. Conservatives generally
want to cut spending on entitlements to offset more military
spending.
On Tuesday night, the president is also expected to generally
outline his priorities on health policy. He said earlier this year
that his goal was to provide "insurance for everybody." White House
deputy press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders declined Sunday to
guarantee that no one would lose his or her current coverage under
the GOP plan.
"I know that the goal is that we make sure that people don't
lose their coverage and that we have to put a high priority on
people that need it most," Ms. Sanders said on ABC.
Republicans are also split over how to overhaul Medicaid, the
federal-state insurance program for the poor, which some states
expanded under the 2010 health law.
In Tuesday's speech, Mr. Trump also will likely reiterate his
desire to increase border security, his former campaign manager,
Corey Lewandowski, said Sunday on Fox.
Mr. Trump campaigned for president promising a full wall along
the border with Mexico and continues to talk about building it. But
he is running into resistance from some Republicans in Texas.
Write to Kristina Peterson at kristina.peterson@wsj.com and Nick
Timiraos at nick.timiraos@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
February 26, 2017 21:36 ET (02:36 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.