Officials: Trump budget to cut Medicaid, food stamps – put 'taxpayer first'
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FOX NEWS - President Trump is calling for major cuts to Medicaid and food stamps -- alongside increases for national and border security -- as part of what administration officials call a "taxpayer-first budget" set to be released Tuesday.
White House budget director Mick Mulvaney drew up the blueprint, which he said would balance the budget by 2027.
"This is the first time that an administration has written a budget through the perspective of the people paying the taxes," Mulvaney told reporters Monday night.
The White House plan leaves Social Security and Medicare untouched, but calls for $800 billion in cuts to Medicaid and a $193 billion reduction in food stamps over the next ten years.
"We are no longer going to measure compassion by the number of people on those programs. We're going to measure compassion by how many people we can get off those programs," said Mulvaney, who added that there would be a work requirement for some Americans to continue receiving food stamps.
"If you're on food stamps and you're able-bodied, then we need you to go to work," Mulvaney said.
The budget blueprint also provides $2.6 billion for border security, including $1.6 billion for the construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border, one of Trump's cornerstone campaign promises. The remaining $1 billion will be used to bolster exiting border defenses by hiring new agents and upgrading equipment used to track illegal crossings.