The Latest: Some of Trump's GOP allies slam budget plan


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WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on President Donald Trump's budget for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 (all times local):

10:40 p.m.

President Donald Trump's $4.1 trillion budget plan is drawing rebukes, even from some Republican allies, for its politically unrealistic cuts to the social safety net and a broad swath of other domestic programs.

The Senate's No. 2 Republican, John Cornyn of Texas, says it's "basically dead on arrival."

The proposal reflects a conservative vision of smaller government, a drastic rollback of programs for the poor and disabled and robust hikes for the military and border security. It foresees an overhaul of the tax code, a boon to the wealthiest Americans.

Veteran GOP Rep. Harold Rogers, who represents a poor district in eastern Kentucky, says, "These cuts that are being proposed are draconian."

Republican Sen. Bill Cassidy, says, "I don't think the president's budget is going anywhere."

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1:30 p.m.

Congressional Democrats are harshly criticizing President Donald Trump's budget for 2018, saying it contradicts many of the promises he made on the presidential campaign trail.

The Democrats are particularly focused on tax cuts that would benefit the wealthiest Americans. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., calls the budget a massive transfer of wealth from working families and the elderly to the wealthiest 1 percent. He calls it "immoral."

Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., says the budget would harm many Trump supporters, but he's optimistic it will be roundly rejected.

Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., says the budget cuts Social Security Disability Insurance and would trim the National Institutes of Health budget by nearly 20 percent. She says cuts to education are "one of the dumbest budget moves they can make."

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1 p.m.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says President Donald Trump's budget proposal for the coming fiscal year prioritizes "American taxpayers over Washington bureaucrats" while strengthening the military.

Trump's $4.1 trillion spending plan proposes to eliminate the deficit in a decade while protecting Social Security and Medicare. Ryan says "we can finally turn the page on the Obama era of bloated budgets that never balance."

Trump is seeking sharp cuts in a variety of programs for the poor from Medicaid to food stamps and disability payments.

Ryan says "President Trump has proven his commitment to fiscal responsibility with a budget that will grow the economy."

Ryan isn't making any promises about passing the Trump budget, though. He says he looks forward to working with Budget Committee leaders to "pass a balanced budget."

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12:15 p.m.

President Donald Trump's budget is getting an icy reception on Capitol Hill from many of his fellow Republicans.

No. 2 Senate Republican John Cornyn calls the budget "dead on arrival."

Longtime GOP Rep. Hal Rogers of Kentucky calls Trump's proposed cuts to domestic safety net programs "draconian."

Another senior Republican lawmaker, Fred Upton of Michigan, questioned inclusion of money for Trump's border wall, remarking: "I thought Mexico was going to pay for the wall, why is this in our budget?"

House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wisconsin dismissed such criticism as typical rhetoric and praised the budget because it balances over 10 years.

Independent economists say the budget relies on unrealistic projections of economic growth, but Ryan sidestepped that question, saying faster growth would "help so many of our problems."

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12:05 p.m.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer says he can't recall in his 36 years in Congress any budget sent to the Congress with a "less realistic" chance of being enacted than the one President Donald Trump unveiled on Tuesday.

The Maryland Democrat calls the proposed budget the most "draconian" of any he's seen sent to the Congress and says it would have a devastating impact on working Americans, federal employees and to national security.

He notes that some Republicans have already distanced themselves from the budget recommendations and that if Republicans actually did seek to enact it, he could "guarantee the American people would rise up and reject their policies and would reject them."

He also describes the president's recommendations as a "message budget to the right wing of the party."

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11 a.m.

President Donald Trump has sent Congress a $4.1 trillion spending plan that proposes to eliminate the deficit in a decade while protecting Social Security and Medicare.

But to achieve balance, Trump is seeking sharp cuts in a variety of programs for the poor from Medicaid to food stamps and disability payments.

Administration officials say they want to tighten work requirements to get millions of people off government support programs and back into the labor force, saying that will help them achieve their ambitious goal of boosting economic growth on a sustained basis to 3 percent annual gains.

The submission will set off months of debate in Congress. Democrats have already voiced strong opposition to the plan, and even Republicans are wary of the political dangers in Trump's draconian cuts.

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10:35 a.m.

Top GOP leaders in Congress are praising President Donald Trump's budget plan for promising a balanced federal ledger over time.

The budget relies on faster economic growth and steep cuts to programs for the poor in a bid to balance the government's books over the next decade.

House Speaker Paul Ryan says he is pleased the budget projects a balance and says he's never encountered a presidential budget that people didn't declare "dead on arrival."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told colleagues that the Trump plan — unlike any of President Barack Obama's budget blueprints — "actually achieves balance."

McConnell also praised the plan for "building on the progress" made earlier this month is a 2017 spending plan that made down payments of Trump proposals to boost defense and border security.

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3 a.m.

President Donald Trump is sending Congress a $4.1 trillion spending plan that relies on faster economic growth and steep cuts in a range of support programs for low-income individuals to balance the government's books over the next decade.

The proposed budget, for the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, was being delivered to Congress Tuesday, setting off an extended debate in which Democrats are already attacking the administration for trying to balance the budget on the backs of the poor. Lawmakers from both parties have said major changes will be needed as the measure moves through Congress.

The proposal projects that this year's deficit will rise to $603 billion, up from the actual deficit of $585 billion last year.

Copyright © The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

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