White House Maps Budget Battle With a Gambit Once Scorned by GOP
- Trump budget director says upcoming budget won’t raise caps
- Vought defends use of war fund to provide Pentagon money
The White House is seen reflected in a puddle in Washington, D.C.
Photographer: Alex Edelman/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
The Trump administration on Monday unveiled its opening position in high-stakes budget negotiations set to begin in Congress just weeks after a stalemate over spending led to a 35-day government shutdown.
White House acting budget director Russ Vought said in an opinion essay posted on RealClearPolitics that the Trump fiscal 2020 budget set to be released March 11 won’t call for raising spending caps put in place in the 2011 debt ceiling deal. Instead, increases in defense spending would come by using an uncapped war fund account, an approach conservatives have long called a gimmick.