Trump budget faces Dem opposition, GOP doubts about math
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s budget chief delivered a spirited defence of the plan’s deep spending cuts, but his agriculture secretary offered only a half-hearted endorsement of proposed reductions to farm subsidies and food stamps.
A day after the budget’s release, a handful of senior administration officials fanned out on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, facing tough questions from Democrats opposed to the blueprint for the upcoming fiscal year and Republicans skeptical about the administration’s math.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, meanwhile, gave Republicans the unwelcome news that they may have to cast a dreaded vote on increasing the government’s borrowing authority before they break for the August recess. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos faced a grilling from Democrats over funding private schools with taxpayer money.
One House Budget Committee member, Rep. Tom Cole, R-Okla., told White House Budget Director Mick Mulvaney that Trump’s proposed cuts to medical research are “penny-wise and pound-foolish” — and then excused himself to preside over DeVos’ testimony.