Civil and Human Rights Coalition: Trump Budget is Dead on Arrival

WASHINGTON – Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president and director of public policy of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, released the following statement on President Trump’s fiscal year 2018 budget:

“Our concerns about President Trump’s FY 2018 budget proposal have not only been confirmed, it’s worse than we imagined. The misnamed budget, ‘A New Foundation for American Greatness,’ would be a boon to the wealthiest interests in our nation at the expense of working families. We need to invest in our nation, but this is a proposal to disinvest in America. While we continue to fully examine the Trump budget proposal, a few things are abundantly clear: this budget is cruel and fantastical and should be dead on arrival in Congress.

The budget presumes a level of economic growth that experts say is unrealistic at best – it’s a house of cards that cannot stand. And it follows the Republican mantra of massive, unnecessary tax cuts for millionaires and billionaires and large corporations, which would be paid for by slashing basic living standards for the most vulnerable among us, including many children, and by attacking critical programs like Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicaid, food assistance, and more. The proposal to ban Planned Parenthood from receiving any federal funds would endanger the health and lives of countless women. If enacted, this budget would harm working families and communities of color and undermine basic civil rights in the process.

Congress should exercise its independent judgment in crafting a FY 2018 budget that is based in reality, and supports and invests in working families and communities. We urge Congress to reject the draconian cuts proposed in the Trump budget and to instead provide critical investments in nondefense programs such as the census, vital K-12 education, higher education, job training, and affordable housing. Moreover, Congress cannot ignore the return of reduced, sequestered spending caps for fiscal year 2018 that are set to kick in on October 1. Despite the polarized atmosphere, Congress must work to enact a bipartisan budget deal that provides relief from the sequestered caps and maintains parity between defense and nondefense discretionary spending for FY 2018.”

Nancy Zirkin is executive vice president and director of public policy for The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference and its 200-plus member organizations, visit www.civilrights.org.