Former President Donald Trump plans to cut government spending without consulting Congress if he returns to the Oval Office in 2025.
In an allegedly forthcoming campaign video reviewed by Semafor, Trump pledges to “use a process known as impoundment to force “every federal agency” to reduce spending” according to The Hill.
Trump plans to “unilaterally” control the purse strings from the White House by challenging – and possibly getting Congress to overturn – the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 which created the federal budgetary process that is in effect today.
Although Trump promised to cut spending during his first term, The Committee For A Responsible Federal Budget reported the following in February of 2020:
“Since President Trump's election in 2016, total spending has grown by nearly $800 billion – from $3.85 trillion (20.8 percent of Gross Domestic Product) in 2016 to $4.65 trillion (21.0 percent of GDP) in 2020.
Total federal spending has grown every year since 2013, growing from $3.45 trillion in FY 2013 to a projected $4.65 trillion in FY 2020. That trend has only accelerated since 2016, with spending increasing by nearly $340 billion between FY 2018 and 2019 alone. Spending in FY 2020 is projected to be at least $200 billion more than 2019, about two-thirds of which is due to increasing mandatory spending and net interest, while the remaining third comes from recent discretionary spending increases.
This spending growth is true both in dollars and as a share of the economy. While spending actually shrank as a share of GDP between 2016 and 2018 – from 20.8 percent of GDP to 20.2 percent – that trend has entirely reversed. Spending is now growing once again as a share of GDP, projected to stay around 21 percent of GDP in FY 2020, which is its highest mark as a share of GDP since 2012. While spending as a share of GDP will fall slightly in 2021, it is projected to grow almost every year after that, reaching 23.4 percent of GDP by 2030.”
The unique roles delegated to Congress and the Office of the President when it comes to dictating the federal budget were once more thrown into the spotlight earlier this month when Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden came together on a new budget and created a new debt ceiling to prevent the nation from going over the fiscal cliff.
OK, DJT, great idea!!! But that will not solve the plethora of problems we have. It’s gone way too far. The mess that you attempted to resolve ( and kudos to you for what you accomplished in the face of so much resistance) were chump change to what has been created since. The whole thing is out of control. Gypsys in the palace and no order or authority to correct it. We, which were supposed to be in control of our leadership, hold leaders accountable if they didn’t act upon the will of the people, are now (and for a while now) powerless. We just have to “eat shit and grin”. I’m looking for something much better.
Deep State behind spending spree day 1 in first term