Conservatives Praise Trump Budget as Debate on AHCA Continues

President Donald J. Trump unveiled his first year budget blueprint and it received praise from conservatives wary of and opposed to the healthcare reform bill. The president’s party is in the middle of an intra-party fight over the American Health Care Act (AHCA), stemming from differing views on how best to repeal and replace ObamaCare.

“That sound you hear from Washington, DC this morning is the weeping and gnashing of teeth from bureaucrats and politicians who have built the federal government into an industry on the backs of taxpayers,” Club for Growth president David McIntosh said in a statement. “The Trump Administration’s budget blueprint begins the much-needed work of making major cuts in agencies like the EPA, and ending the waste of taxpayer dollars that are being poured into things like federally-funded TV and radio.”

The Club for Growth, which supports many of the members of the House Freedom Caucus and its counterpart in the U.S. Senate, opposes the AHCA.

“President Trump and OBM Director Mick Mulvaney are showing the political will to take the axe to many bloated and unnecessary programs. We hope Congress will follow suit, and that this is just the start of an ongoing effort to truly cut the size and scope of the federal government.”

The Club hasn’t been this supportive of President Trump since he nominated Mr. Mulvaney, a former member of the House Freedom Caucus.

“While this budget is only a blueprint that must be approved by Congress and while it only covers annual discretionary spending, its proposed reductions are a major step in the right direction,” Senate Conservatives President Ken Cuccinelli said in a statement. If we are ever going to balance the budget and create real economic growth, we must cut federal spending.”

Ironically, while both groups opposed him during the primary, Mr. McIntosh and Mr. Cuccinelli may both end up being two of President Trump’s most reliable conservative allies. As Mr. Cuccinelli noted in an email blast to donors, it is the GOP leadership in Congress that conservatives don’t trust.

“In fact, a senior aide to GOP leadership on Capitol Hill said the President’s budget is ‘a joke… we’ve learned not to listen to anything he says or does. We’re on our own,'” he said. “One of the biggest areas of disagreement with the GOP establishment is the president’s plan to cut foreign aid, which includes cuts to funding for the United Nations and the World Bank.”

The budget proposes a 30% cut to the State Department, and the president on Thursday stated it includes “deep cuts to foreign aid.”

“We are going to do more with less, and make the Government lean and accountable to the people,” President Trump said.

President Trump also requested $5.7 billion for the EPA, a cut of $2.6 billion, or 31%, from the amount appropriated for 2017 in a continuing resolution.

“We expect Democrats in Congress to oppose these cuts along with many big-spending Republicans,” Mr. Cuccinelli added.

Indeed, Democrat House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., who presided over the party when it lost the most congressional seats ever in its history, slammed the budget blueprint.

“President Trump is not making anyone more secure with a budget that hollows out our economy and endangers working families,” Rep. Pelosi said in a statement. “Throwing billions at defense while ransacking America’s investment in jobs, education, clean energy and lifesaving medical research will leave our nation weakened.”

People’s Pundit Daily requested independent research to back up the minority leader’s claims, but they offered none.