President Trump's Fiscal 2019 Budget
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President Trump released his Fiscal 2019 Budget plan this past week. It's rare for Congress to adopt a President's budget. However, it's the first step in the budgetary process, and it outlines the President's plans and priorities.
Below are some highlights of President Trump's plan.
- Total Fiscal 2019 spending is projected to be $4.4 trillion, with $716 billion allocated for defense and $18 billion to build a wall along the southern border.
- Additional $200 billion of spending for infrastructure, which was part of the President's $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan.
- U.S. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is projected to grow by 3% annually.
- The Fiscal 2019 and 2020 deficits will be approximately $1 trillion each year before slowly decreasing.
- The plan doesn't project a balanced budget within the next 10 years, and the deficit at the end of the decade is expected to be $450 billion.
- The U.S. will overspend in excess of $7 trillion over the next decade, pushing the national debt to nearly $28 trillion.
- The President wants to reduce domestic spending by more than $3 trillion over the decade, despite the agreement by Congress last week to increase domestic spending by $300 billion.
If you recall, President Trump campaigned on balancing the budget and addressing the $20 trillion national debt. Even though his budget isn't likely to become law, it demonstrates the difficulty our leaders face in trying to reduce federal spending and balance the budget. They may have good intentions, but the harsh realities of the difficult choices required and the potential political backlash make it near impossible to achieve.
This is just the first step in the budgetary process, but if the President, who campaigned on fiscal restraint, doesn't propose a balanced budget, don't expect Congress to pass one on their own.
