Trump Budget Fails to Mend the Gaps…Again

For Immediate Release: February 14, 2020
Contact: Lee Morrow, lmorrow@networklobby.org, 202-601-7856

Trump Budget Fails to Mend the Gaps…Again
NETWORK Lobby responds to President Trump’s federal budget proposal for Fiscal Year 2021

WASHINGTON, D.C. — NETWORK believes that the budget is a faithful, moral document that should reflect our values as a nation. Unfortunately, the President’s FY2021 budget is not so. The President’s budget proposes drastic cuts to non-defense discretionary spending by $4.8 trillion in cuts for vital federal agencies, including a 37% spending cut for the Department of Commerce and a 15% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This will increase the gaps between the wealthy and the impoverished in our nation.

President Trump’s budget abandons the most vulnerable by decreasing investments for fundamental social safety net programs. His budget would increase the number of uninsured in the United States, cut desperately needed assistance for low income families, and invest almost nothing into our nation’s dilapidated infrastructure. It is time to mend the racial and income gaps in our nation.

We cannot accept the immoral and divisive budget proposal from President Trump. Congress must reject this budget and the roadmap it lays out. Like last year, the President’s budget tells us exactly what he plans to do through executive action. The Catholic advocates of NETWORK will work tirelessly to stop these proposals from coming into effect.

Laura Peralta-Schulte, Senior Government Relations Advocate for NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said:

“Once again, President Trump lays out a budget that provides a preferential option for the rich while cutting critical programs proven to lift people out of poverty. His budget would give an additional $1.4 trillion in tax breaks to the wealthy paid for by cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and other safety net programs.  This is sinful. We must heal the wounds of economic and racial injustice with those facing systemic exclusion and oppression. We echo the words of the Prophet Isaiah who warned the corrupt rulers of his time, ‘Woe to those who make unjust laws, to those who issue oppressive decrees, to deprive the poor of their rights and withhold justice from the oppressed of my people, making widows their prey and robbing the fatherless.’”

Tralonne Shorter, Senior Government Relations Advocate for NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said:

“The President’s budget proposal lays out another hopeless roadmap that offers no relief or clear pathway to prosperity for disheartened working families. The proposal includes $4.4 trillion in steep cuts to nondefense spending over 10 years, starting with $42 billion for FY2021 to offset increased funding for defense and immigration enforcement. This President fails the moral test of great leaders to care for those with the least among us – the 99% of the country who are over-worked, under-valued, and under-resourced. We must expect more from our leaders and urge Congress to reject this budget by investing in affordable housing, healthcare, Medicaid, SNAP, and fair elections.”

Anne Marie Bonds, Government Relations Associate for NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said:

“President Trump continues to promise that he will protect the healthcare of working families, but his FY2021 budget proposal is just another attack on care for our nation’s most vulnerable. The Trump administration continues to cut our nation’s social safety net by slashing funding for Medicare and Medicaid, and continued attempts to expand Medicaid work requirements. Also, by attempting to repeal the Affordable Care Act with no suitable replacement, President Trump continues to jeopardize the millions who rely on the ACA for quality and affordable care.”

Giovana A. Oaxaca Najera, Government Relations Associate for NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice said:

“The President’s proposal is illustrious of his misaligned priorities. Every dollar spent in carrying out punitive immigration policy is a dollar less in critical human needs programs, serving communities across the country. President Trump is requesting a huge windfall for agencies that police, detain, and separate families, but neglects food security programs, health, and more. This document is a statement of values which by and large show that the President is more concerned with selling the idea of the border wall than serving the people.”

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NETWORK, a national Catholic Social Justice lobby, which educates, organizes, and lobbies for economic and social transformation, has a nearly 50-year track record of lobbying for critical federal programs that support those at the margins and prioritize the common good.