House Republicans will probably unveil their version of the federal budget in the next few weeks. As budgets are political documents as much as anything else, the Republican proposal will tell us whether the party is genuinely intent on restraining federal spending.
Things got off to an ignominious start when House Speaker Kevin McCarthy took the massive federal programs “completely off the table” even as a discussion point in the ongoing talks over the federal debt ceiling hike.
The GOP bind got worse when former President Donald Trump chastised those potential challengers for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination who previously supported reforming the two programs.
Given this, what’s left for the party to do on spending? The New York Times reports that former Trump administration budget director Russell Vought has produced a report containing potential cuts and reductions:
The outline includes a 45 percent cut to foreign aid; adding work requirements for food stamp and Medicaid beneficiaries; a 43 percent cut to housing programs, including phasing out the Section 8 program that pays a portion of monthly rent costs for low-income people; cutting the F.B.I.’s counterintelligence budget by nearly half; and eliminating Obamacare expansions to Medicaid to save tens of billions of dollars.
That’s not all:
The proposal would also eliminate the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion at the Pentagon, cut $3.4 billion in State Department migration and refugee assistance, and make Pell grants available only to students whose families cannot contribute any money toward a college education.
These are just ideas, not a final draft (never mind a concrete proposal that’s gotten out of a single committee). But if these items, or versions of them, make it into a final proposal, the politics inside the Republican House caucus become the real show in official Washington.
There’s zero guarantee any Republican, even those from the safest districts, will get behind of these ideas. As much as the political class likes to talk about its determination to do whatever is necessary to address problems A, B or C when it comes time for the vote, moderation usually carries the day.
Usually. Remember that whatever the House finally approves must still pass the Senate before it gets to Mr. Biden…who has never in his long public career shown an inclination to reduce the size and scope of the federal government.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the positions of American Liberty News.
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The Republican proposals for the most part are great, but as you say, the chances of their being passed are unquestionably nil. We know Biden will never sign any of it. Democrats spend money unwisely/recklessly, to put it mildly and that won’t change. I do know a person who receives Section 8 supplementation on his rent and would probably not be able to manage on his income if he didn’t have it. But all government programs like these should have strict oversight to curb fraud. Fat chance for that as well.
I do know some that have “Used” section 8. One such person wanted a bigger apartment, so the solution was to get pregnant again. No plans to ever get married because as she said “I would lose my benefits”. So much for oversight. Another one was renting from a relative of mine, section 8 paid all of the rent except for around $50. They were on disability. But they could cut down trees and haul huge limbs that most people probably couldn’t move. So I asked what the disability was for, answer back pain. So No they don’t check their story.
I am a fiscal conservative but I also work in a helping profession. The idea that you can and should eliminate the Section 8 program is a ridiculously stupid idea.
You think homelessness is bad now? That drug use is rampant on our streets, and that people with mental illness have few places to live? Just cut Section 8 and see those problems increase by a minimum of 50%.
Yes but states like California don’t spend the Section 8 money on their homeless. Neither does any blue state.
I am confused. At the beginning two massive programs are mentioned without telling what they are. Am I blind?