Yarmuth: On NDD Spending, Trump Undermines His Own Agenda
Washington, D.C.— At last night's Joint Address to Congress, President Trump laid out a long list of priorities and goals he wants to accomplish during his first year in office. But much of the President's wish list, which includes investing in everything from education, to scientific research, to infrastructure, is a part of non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending. This is the same spending the President proposed to cut earlier this week by an additional $54 billion.
NDD spending is already at historically low levels, jeopardizing many programs vital to working families across the country. The President's even more drastic cuts would make it harder to meet the needs of our citizens—rendering his calls last night for greater resources all the more confusing.
"The policy goals President Trump laid-out in his address to Congress last night do not match the drastic budget cuts he proposed three days ago. He can promise the moon and the stars, but none of it is real without funding to make it happen," said House Budget Committee Ranking Member John Yarmuth. "Until we have more than empty promises from the President, Americans should remain deeply concerned about his short-sighted and dangerous budget proposals."
Here is a list of the proposals President Trump spoke to last night that are funded through the NDD programs he wants to cut:
- Infrastructure
- Combatting the Drug Epidemic
- Child care
- Women's health
- Promoting clean air and water (Particularly difficult to do when reports indicate the President plans to gut the EPA by 25%)
- Education
- Law Enforcement
- Scientific and Medical research and innovation
Yesterday, the House Budget Committee Democrats released three documents on the importance of NDD funding: