Trump Administration Releases FY19 Budget Proposal ... back >
Feb. 12, 2018 - The Trump Administration released its FY19 budget proposal to generally unfavorable reviews.  The introduction to the document states, "The Budget makes the hard choices needed to stop wasteful spending, lower the national debt, and focus Government on what matters most—protecting the Nation."  In a press briefing OMB Director Mick Mulvaney explained that, "The executive budget has always been a messaging document."  Mulvaney said the FY19 budget has two messages: "Number one, you don't have to spend all of this money, Congress.  But if you do, here is how we would prefer to see you spend it...  And the other message is that we do not have to have trillion-dollar deficits forever."  However, Robert L. Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, stated, "This budget is essentially a confession of failure on dealing with the nation's fiscal challenges."  Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, stated, "The budget has too many gimmicks, exaggerated savings, and rosy assumptions.  Most troubling, it doesn’t make the credible hard choices necessary to help bring the debt back to more manageable levels."