Congress has until April 28 to pass a fiscal 2017 spending measure to avoid a government shutdown, and President Trump’s new effort to slash $18 billion from our cash-strapped federal agencies this fiscal year could complicate the process and worsen the outcome.
Congress delayed passage of the spending measure from last fall to this year after Trump won the election and asked to be a part of the 2017 budget consideration process. But he didn’t get back to Congress until his 2018 proposal came out in March.
The programs Trump’s targeting this fiscal year is similar to what he’s targeting next year: public health and safety, education, environmental protection, housing, and peacekeeping. He wants to use the $18 billion cut to these programs to help pay for the increase in the military budget next year. The $2 billion cut from this year’s budget would also go towards his proposed wall along the Mexican border.
There are only five months left in this fiscal year, and the $18 billion cut would need to be absorbed within these five months if Congress agreed to it.
“We can either invest in America or dismantle it,” said AFGE President J. David Cox Sr. “We’re urging Congress to reject these additional cuts that would devastate our public health and safety, education, and other areas important to all of us including our children and grandchildren.”
Yes, you can do something about it Visit our WIN page at www.afge.org/win for resources and information on how to stop the cuts.
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