Ranking Member Merkley Statement on Trump’s Budget Request

Ranking Member Merkley Statement on Trump's Budget Request

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the below statement following the release of President Trump's proposed budget for fiscal year 2027.

"This budget request fails to meet the needs of working Americans. This budget request doesn't address how to tackle the high price of gas or groceries that Americans are facing every day, our skyrocketing debt, or the looming Social Security insolvency. All Trump's budget does is explode the Department of Defense's budget to an eye-popping $1.5 TRILLION while Trump continues to spend billions of dollars a day on his illegal war with Iran that is putting servicemembers at risk and jacking up energy prices here at home.

"Going back decades, presidents have sent to Congress detailed budgets with 10 years' worth of detailed plans - outlining their approach to tax policy and our growing debt, as well as the solvency of our biggest programs like Medicare and Social Security. This budget doesn't do any of that. It's just an out-of-touch plea for more money for guns and bombs, and less for the things people need, like housing, health care, education, roads, scientific research, and environmental protection. This proposal is dead on arrival.

"As Ranking Member of the Senate Budget Committee and a senior member of the Appropriations Committee, I will push my colleagues to reject this budget work together in a bipartisan manner, and enact legislation that makes it easier for working families to get ahead," said Ranking Member Jeff Merkley.

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