President Donald Trump would like to cut nearly $18 billion from domestic spending this fiscal year to fund military programs and begin construction on the southern border wall.
Trump delivered a list of potential programs to defund to Congress Friday, Politico reports. The programs that could be cut include domestic spending, grant programs, foreign aid packages and climate spending.
The list was presented to the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations as a set of “options,” the Associated Press reports, and are not necessarily a complete budget list.
This list of suggestions for budget offsets follows Trump’s request for $30 billion in supplemental funding for defense spending in the current fiscal year, which ends in October. Also included in that supplemental request was nearly $3 billion for border security and southern wall construction. (RELATED: Trump Asks Congress For $999 Million To Start Building The Border Wall)
The House and Senate both have versions of appropriations bills for the current fiscal year that have not been passed. The $18 billion figure represents the amount that would be reduced from the current Continuing Resolution bill, which expires April 28.
Senate leaders are skeptical that a budget bill for the remaining fiscal year would pass if wall funding bills were included.
“They will not pass together,” Missouri Republican Sen. Roy Blunt told the AP. “That’s just my view.”
Democratic lawmakers have already threatened a government shutdown if budget bills include funding for the wall. (RELATED: Democrats Threaten Government Shutdown Over Border Wall)
“There is no path to put a supplemental (wall) as currently described on that package,” Blunt, who is a member of the Appropriations Committee, said. Blunt said there could be a path to get 60 Senate votes to overcome a possible filibuster.
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