White House calls for domestic cuts to finance border wall
US President Donald Trump is proposing immediate budget cuts of $18 billion from programs like medical research, infrastructure and community grants so US taxpayers, not Mexico, can cover the down payment on the border wall.
The White House documents were submitted to Congress amid negotiations over a catchall spending bill that would avert a partial government shutdown at the end of next month. The package would wrap up $1.1 trillion in unfinished spending bills and address the Trump administration's request for an immediate $30 billion in additional Pentagon spending.
The latest Trump proposal, disclosed Tuesday, would eliminate $1.2 billion in National Institutes of Health research grants, a favorite of both parties. The community development block grant program, also popular, would be halved, amounting to a cut of $1.5 billion, and Trump would strip $500 million from a transportation project known as TIGER grants.
