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Trump Proposes $15 Billion Budget Cut, Includes Children’s Health Program

(Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images)

Terry Haynes Contributor
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On Tuesday, President Donald Trump is expected to ask Congress to approve a spending cuts package worth $15 billion.

Some of the budgetary adjustment on previously-authorized government expenditure will include approximately $7 billion from the Democrat-touted Children’s Health Insurance Program, according to senior administration officials Monday.

An additional $800 million will come from funds generated by 2010’s Affordable Care Act.

Just weeks ago, Republicans submitted $60 billion in cuts, which set the stage for a fight with congressional Democrats. That offering, which focused on unspent federal funds, has been replaced by the new proposal. Any future pruning will not affect a two-year budget agreement made in February.

Once the Trump administration submits the request, Congress has 45 days to confirm the package or a reduced iteration of it via majority vote.

If the House and Senate ratify the plan, the reduction will account for less than 0.4 percent of total federal disbursement this year.

Nevertheless, Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., told The Washington Post, “I hope it’s never painted that this is just symbolic or a political gesture. We think it’s very legitimate.”

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer condemned the decreased allotment for CHIP, posting to Twitter, “It appears that sabotaging our health care system to the detriment of middle-class families wasn’t enough for President Trump and Republicans; now they’re going after health care dollars that millions of children rely on, especially during outbreaks of the flu and other deadly illnesses.”