President Trump, burdened by some of his lowest approval ratings of his second term, came to Congress with a small $1.5 trillion request—fund my war with Iran.
The $1.5 trillion request to fund the Pentagon through 2027—a 40% increase over this year—would “set military spending at its highest level in modern history” according to the New York Times.
The administration claims that the eyebrow-raising budget will be offset by more than $70 billion cuts to domestic programs.
“It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things,” Trump said at a private Easter lunch this week. He then said that the focus had to be “military protection.”
A president’s budget is more of a wishlist than a rigid set of guidelines, but it does reveal Trump’s priorities to fund guns (the military) over butter (domestic services). This is a politically risky ask for a president at his most vulnerable, but this choice is even more perilous for Republicans on the ballot in November.
As our national correspondent Erika Filter noted in this morning’s Wake-Up Call!, the president’s demands put them between a rock and a hard place. On one hand, vulnerable Republicans want to focus on addressing the rising cost of living as consumer sentiment continues to plummet. On the other, the mercurial leader of their party demands total loyalty.
The longer the war drags on and the more unpopular it becomes, the choice for voters will be clear. But instead of making a choice, a growing share of Republicans might opt for the exits instead.
— Kirk A. Bado
