The Latest: Trump 2020 budget seeks $8.6B for wall

WASHINGTON — The Latest on President Donald Trump’s proposed 2020 budget (all times local):

8:25 a.m.

President Donald Trump’s budget chief confirms that the president will ask Congress for $8.6 billion for his proposed wall along the U.S. border with Mexico as part of his 2020 budget proposal.

Russ Vought, the acting director of the Office of Management and Budget, says the “the border situation is deteriorating by the day” with “record numbers of apprehensions.” The $8.6 billion is in addition to the billions of dollars Trump seeks to secure for the wall through the national emergency at the border he declared last month.

Vought, speaking on CNBC, says the proposed budget will also have cuts in discretionary spending, such as foreign aid and in welfare “reforms.” He added that the White House also wants “reforms” to student loans and federal retirement programs.

Vought said, “Many of the reforms that we have are not what we would call a cut. Many of them are savings and reforms to make programs work better.”

Democrats have called the proposed cuts to essential services “dangerous.”

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12:40 a.m.

President Donald Trump’s new budget is returning to an old fight over spending on a border wall with Mexico.

The president’s proposal, set for release Monday, also seeks to increase spending for the military but cut back sharply on money for domestic programs in the name of fiscal responsibility.

Trump’s acting budget chief, Russ Vought, says the administration has “prioritized reining in reckless Washington spending.”

Democrats aren’t buying it. The chairman of the House Budget Committee, congressman John Yarmuth of Kentucky, calls the proposed cuts to essential services “dangerous.”

Congress’ top Democrats, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate leader Chuck Schumer, predict that Trump’s latest demand for border wall money will result in another defeat for the president. They say the money would be better spent on rebuilding the country.

The Associated Press

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