This Trump's not governing as a real Conservative meme is horsepuckey. What IS true is that he's limited by what is possible given a Senate that is 51-49 GOP but which is in truth more 57-43 Left vs Right. Like Reagan, Trump works to "get what can be got" not to tilt at windmills that cannot be vanquished but signify "moral" victories. Below are key governmental cuts/reductions Trump has proposed in his 2019 budget...and yes, they are both significant and in synch with conservative governing philosophy...Reagan-esque. At the very bottom is a list of key agencies which will be facing cuts. Also, not in there but I know this as I actually AM a Federal employee, is a national cut to cost of living raises for next year...while I'd love that money, Trump has made a wise and conservative decision to freeze that raise.
Dedicated anti-tax, shrinking government activists like Grover Norquist say it best:
“This is going very well,†said anti-tax activist Grover Norquist “Slow and steady — for all the bluster, this is how you downsize government without engendering blowback,†Norquist added.
The information below comes from Wapo, so consider the source but do not dismiss the data itself.
Key proposed changes Ag Department
Reduces funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program by $17.2 billion in 2019 and $213.5 billion over the next 10 years.
Limits eligibility in the crop insurance program and caps premium subsidies.
Cuts the $136 million in funding for conservation programs.
Eliminates the Rural Economic Development Loan and Grant Program.
Discontinues the $166 million Food for Progress aid program.
Key proposed changes to Commerce
Saves $300 million by eliminating the Economic Development Administration, which the administration says duplicates programs at the departments of agriculture and transportation.
Saves $125 million by erasing the federal contribution to the Manufacturing Extension Partnership program, which funds state consulting services for small- and medium-sized companies.
Key proposed changes to Energy Department
Slashes 66 percent of the budget for the Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, which studies advanced transportation, wind and solar energy.
Eliminates the Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy, a program popular in Congress.
Cuts the department's loan guarantee programs, although the existing portfolio would be maintained.
Terminates construction of a mixed-oxide nuclear fuel fabrication facility in South Carolina that has the support of Sen. Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.).
Key proposed changes Health and Human Services
Cuts funding of the subsidies that help more than four in five people with ACA marketplace health plans afford insurance premiums.
Key proposed changes to Department of Housing and Urban Development
Reduces Section 8 federal housing subsidies
Eliminates the $1.9 billion fund for public housing capital repairs
Like last year, zeroes out community development block grants, which play a key role in disaster recovery, as well as grants to states and local governments to increase homeownership for the lowest-income Americans, and funding for neighborhood redevelopment.
The administration plans to unveil legislation to institute work requirements for Americans receiving housing subsidies, on a broad scale.
Key proposed changes Interior Department
Slashes $33 million, or 92 percent, of the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which supports land acquisition and restoration efforts using federal revenue from oil and gas drilling off the Outer Continental Shelf.
Key proposed changes to Justice Department
Eliminates the Community Relations Service, a “peacemaker†office created by the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to help ease conflicts and tensions in communities facing conflicts over race, gender, religion and other factors. Duties of the office, which is not an investigative or prosecutorial unit, will be merged with the Civil Rights Division, which does investigate crimes. Jobs will be eliminated when the office is moved.
The Bureau of Prisons will close two regional offices and close two stand-alone minimum security prison camps for a savings of more than $122 million.
Key proposed changes to Labor Department
Cut funding for National Dislocated Worker Grants — support for those who lose their jobs in natural disasters or factory closures — from $219.5 million in 2017 to $51 million in 2019.
Shrink funding for Adult Employment and Training Activities, which serve veterans, Native Americans and young people who have dropped out of high school, by nearly half, from $810 million in 2017 to $490.3 million in 2019.
Key proposed changes to Transportation Department
Eliminate TIGER grants, a major discretionary program. The competitive grants fund a variety of road, rail and transit efforts.
“Wind down†a major source of transit funding, the Capital Investment Grants program, limiting it to those projects that already have funding agreements in place.
The White House is also re-upping its proposal to shift the nation's air traffic control system out of government hands.
-29% State Department
-25% Environmental Protection Agency
-25% Small Business Administration
-18% Transportation
-15% Agriculture
-15% Interior
-14% Housing and Urban Development
-10% Labor
-5% Education
-3% Treasury
-1% Justice
Yes, someone can go through the budget and find increases in certain areas...mostly centered on Defense and Homeland Security...two areas deeply important to the safety and security of the nation. Anyone calling for cuts in those areas...given the weakened state of our armed forces and the siege under which agencies like ICE and Border Patrol are functioning...is a peawit.
