The White House budget director confirmed Saturday
that the Trump administration will propose "fairly dramatic
reductions" in the U.S. foreign aid budget later this month.
Reuters and other news outlets reported earlier
this week that the administration plans to propose to Congress cuts in the
budgets for the U.S. State Department and Agency for International Development
by about one third.
"We are going to propose to reduce foreign aid and we are
going to propose to spend that money here," White House Office of
Management Budget director Mick Mulvaney told Fox News on Saturday, adding the
proposed cuts would include "fairly dramatic reductions in foreign aid."
Mulvaney said the cuts in foreign aid would help the
administration fund a proposed $54 billion expansion of the U.S. military
budget.
"The overriding message is fairly
straightforward: less money spent overseas means more money spent here,"
said Mulvaney, a former South Carolina Representative.
The United States spends just over $50 billion
annually on the State Department and USAID, compared with $600 billion or more
each year on the Pentagon.
Several Republicans this week on Capitol Hill raised concerns
about the planned cuts to the State Department.
"I am very concerned by reports of deep cuts that could
damage efforts to combat terrorism, save lives and create opportunities for
American workers," said U.S. Representative Ed Royce, the Republican
chairman of the House of Representatives Foreign Affairs Committee.
A U.S. government website said 20 government agencies plan to
award $36.5 billion in foreign assistance programs in more than 100 countries
around the world during the current budget year.
Senator Marco Rubio, a Florida Republican, tweeted
earlier this week: "Foreign Aid is not charity. We must make sure it is
well spent, but it is less than 1% of budget & critical to our national
security."
Mulvaney said the Trump administration will release its
budget proposal on March 16. Reuters has reported the administration plans
significant proposed cuts in many other domestic programs.
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