Carper Statement on President Trump’s Proposed Budget for FY 2020

 WASHINGTON—Today U.S. Senator Tom Carper (D-Del.) released the following statement regarding President Trump’s budget request for Fiscal Year 2020.

“Every President is entitled to lay out his or her priorities for the coming year and request that Congress fund those priorities. However, in a democracy such as ours, an executive’s budget request is just that: a request. Ultimately, members on both sides of the aisle in Congress must work together to find agreement on which priorities will be funded and at what levels for the coming year. For the last two years, Congress has, on a bipartisan basis, rejected President Trump’s requests to severely cut the programs that are crucial to maintaining our security. Unfortunately, President Trump seems intent on continuing to put forth irresponsible proposals that are too extreme for the American people and even members of his own party in Congress. 

“Just a few months ago, both the House and the Senate – as well as a majority of Americans – rejected President Trump’s proposal to put a down payment on a massive border wall that even the men and women who work along the border every day have said would be ineffective. Despite losing that fight – and inflicting needless harm on hundreds of thousands of federal workers during his record-long shutdown – President Trump is foolishly requesting even more money to complete his border wall across our southern border. Ahead of last November’s elections, a majority of Americans said they want to see action on climate change, yet President Trump’s budget request, once again, slashes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency. And, even as the Treasury Department reports that the budget deficit has already risen 77 percent in the first four months of the current fiscal year, President Trump has proposed a budget that would expand the deficit to over $1 trillion every year until 2022. This is either an unserious budget proposal, or it is the height of irresponsibility.

“I started my career in politics as Delaware’s State Treasurer in Delaware. When I later served as Governor of Delaware, I worked with Republicans and Democrats in our state’s legislature to balance eight consecutive budgets. There are smart ways that we can save money without hurting people, and we have a fiscal and moral obligation to do just that. We can — and we must — save money across federal agencies without taking away people’s health care, eliminating protections for our environment and public health, and cutting programs that so many communities depend on. Once again, Congress must step up to the plate and come together to develop serious and responsible fiscal proposals that safeguard Americans’ health, grow our economy, keep our country safe and protect future generations.”