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Trump wants to slash food stamps and replace them with a ‘Blue Apron-type program’ By Caitlin Dewey February 12 at 6:57 PM The Trump administration wants to slash food aid to low-income families and make up the difference with a box of canned goods — a change that Office of Management and budget director Mick Mulvaney described in a Monday briefing as a “Blue Apron-type program.” “What we do is propose that for folks who are on food stamps, part — not all, part — of their benefits come in the actual sort of, and I don't want to steal...

The White House says the changes could save $214 billion over a decade. “The Budget proposes to combine the traditional retail-based SNAP electronic benefit with the direct provision of nutritious and 100 percent American-grown USDA Foods to participating households. This cost-effective proposal maintains our commitment to helping needy families avoid hunger while generating substantial savings,” the budget said. Households receiving $90 per month or more would get a portion in shelf-stable milk, ready to eat cereals, pasta, peanut butter, beans and canned fruit, vegetables, and meat, poultry or fish. The remainder of the benefit would go onto the debit card...

US President Donald Trump today unveiled a US$ 4 trillion annual budget for the fiscal 2019 beginning October 1, proposing US$ 256 million in civilian assistance and US$ 80 million in military aid to Pakistan. The proposal of aid to Pakistan comes weeks after Trump administration suspended nearly US$ 2 billion in security assistance to Islamabad due to its inability to take action against terrorist groups operating from its soil. The White House has said it would consider lifting the freeze if it sees action by Pakistan against terrorist groups. The budgetary proposal says that the military aid depends on...

Earlier today, the National Endowment of the Arts Chairman Jane Chu released the following statement regarding President Trump's budget plan for 2019. Today we learned that the President's FY 2019 budget proposes elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts. We are disappointed because we see our funding actively making a difference with individuals in thousands of communities and in every Congressional District in the nation. In FY 2018 to date, the NEA has awarded 1,134 grants totaling $26.68 million to organizations and individuals in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, launched a national songwriting...

<p>Trump tweeted, “Just signed Bill. Our Military will now be stronger than ever before. We love and need our Military and gave them everything — and more. First time this has happened in a long time. Also means JOBS, JOBS, JOBS!”</p>

President Trump on Monday rolled out a White House budget that includes deep cuts to some federal agencies, an increase in funding for the Pentagon and $18 billion for a wall on the Mexican border. It includes proposals to cut deficits by more than $3 trillion over a decade and lower debt levels as a percentage of the gross domestic product, but does not balance by doing away with annual deficits.

The White House on Monday will unveil its long-awaited $1.5 trillion infrastructure package aimed at overhauling U.S. public works. The plan is structured around four goals: generate $1.5 trillion for an infrastructure proposal, streamline the permitting process down to two years, invest in rural infrastructure projects and advance workforce training. The current system is fundamentally broken and it’s broken in two different ways,” a senior administration official told reporters in a Saturday phone call. “We are underinvesting in our infrastructure, and we have a permitting process that takes so long that even when funds are adequate, it can take a...

President Donald Trump unveiled his $1.5 trillion infrastructure plan on Monday at the White House, criticizing the amount of money wasted in the Middle East before he was presdient. He estimated that the United States had spent $7 trillion in the Middle East, calling it a “mistake.” “It’s crazy… $7 trillion in the Middle East, and the Middle East is far worse now than it was 17 years ago when they went in,” Trump said. “And not so intelligently, I have to say, went in. I’m being nice.” As part of his plan, Trump said that the administration would accelerate...

Key details of President Trump’s potential $1 trillion infrastructure plan were published on the news website Axios on Monday. The draft, which a White House spokesperson would not comment on, outlines details on how a majority of the money could be spent.

<p>NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — President Donald Trump is expected to unveil his massive infrastructure bill on Monday, and the plan that once seemed to be a rare issue that both sides could agree on is now facing controversy.</p> <p>As WCBS 880’s Ethan Harp reported, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-New York) addressed the infrastructure plan at Grand Central Terminal Sunday. He was once on board with the plan, but is now concerned with what it could really look like.</p>

With tax reform accomplished and DACA on its way to a Senate debate, the White House has declared this to be “Infrastructure Week.” They held a meeting this morning with officials from around the country to launch one of Donald Trump’s key campaign promises — a master plan to rebuild and upgrade the nation’s core transportation facilities. The Trump administration will roll out a $1.5 trillion proposal, hoping to retain focus on the issue.

Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) slammed his Republican colleagues over backing a short-term spending bill, calling Congress a "withering shadow" of what it once was. "Congress is a withering shadow," the Kentucky Republican said. "It's a shadow of what it once was. Congress has no power, exerts no power, and we walk and we live in the shadow of a presidency that is growing larger and larger and larger." ADVERTISEMENT Paul's remarks come as the Senate is expected to pass a short-term spending bill that includes money for Planned Parenthood ahead of an end-of-the-month deadline to fund the government and avoid...

Their power ebbing, Senate Democrats launched a last-minute drive Saturday to confirm roughly 20 of President Barack Obama's nominees, and several Republicans blamed tea party-backed Texas Sen. Ted Cruz for creating an opening for the outgoing majority party to exploit. Lawmakers took a break in their intrigue long enough to send Obama legislation that provides funds for the government to remain open until Wednesday at midnight, easing concerns of a shutdown. A separate, $1.1 trillion long-term funding bill remained in limbo. Republicans tried to slow the nomination proceedings, but several voiced unhappiness with Cruz, a potential presidential candidate in 2016....

(CNSNews.com) - House Speaker John Boehner (R.-Ohio) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) joined forces early Wednesday evening as the House passed a continuing resolution that will fund the government after the end of the fiscal year on Sept. 30, and that will permit funding for Planned Parenthood (the nation's largest abortion provider), the entirety of Obamacare, and an amendment requested by President Barack Obama "to train and equip appropriately vetted elements of the Syrian opposition." The bill passed 319 to 108 with four members not voting. But there were not enough Republican members to pass the bill without...

Sen. Ted Cruz is launching an effort to push the House into a continuing resolution that funds the government into the next Congress. “It would be a serious mistake for House Republicans to pass a Continuing Resolution that would ensure that Harry Reid and the Senate Democrats would come back to Washington, after many of them will have likely lost their seats, for a no-holds barred lame duck session where they will be free to pass legislation that the American people will never be able to hold them responsible for,” the Texas Republican said in a statement provided to CQ...

Reince Priebus, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, says Republicans will clobber Democrats with the Affordable Care Act—and President Obama’s false promises about it—in next year’s mid-term elections. “And this issue is going to be toxic for the Democrats,” Priebus told CNN’s State of the Union With Candy Crowley.“And believe me, we will tattoo it to their foreheads in 2014. We will run on it. And they will lose because of it.” …

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) asked why reporters were making an issue out of the additional spending that was added to the continuing resolution that re-opened the federal government and increased the debt limit. “What difference does it make? Why are we talking about this? We’re talking about a bill that as I said last night, I’m not asking anybody to vote for this bill on the merits,” Pelosi said. …

Last Tuesday morning, at 9 a.m. in a room deep within the bowels of the Capitol, Representative John Campbell was trying to determine whether the GOP leadership’s plan to fund the government would sink or swim. “Some meetings like that, they present an idea, and it just gets blasted,” he says. “And you can just tell, walking out of the meeting, ‘Okay, this is not gonna fly.’” Campbell, an affable and wealthy Californian who is leaving Congress at the end of this session and is eager to get ownership of his calendar back, has always had a knack for anticipating...

This week, thanks to a groundswell of opposition from conservative activists, the House Republican leadership decided to delay voting on their continuing resolution. Leadership would never admit it, but they canceled Thursday’s scheduled vote because they did not have enough support from Republican members. Using tactics that only Washington insiders could dream of, House leadership attempted a questionable parliamentary scheme which is known as "deem and pass." The goal was to give Republicans a chance to say they voted to defund Obamacare while simultaneously passing a bill out of the House that funds it. If that sounds confusing, that’s because...

Here’s the read among Congressional Dems on this fall’s fiscal fights. At some point, House GOP leaders will have to pass an important bill with a lot of Democratic support — stiff-arming the Tea Party in the process. GOP leaders are trying to defer that moment for as long as possible, but there’s just no clear way around it. Multiple reports this morning tell us House GOP leaders are struggling to round up support among House Republicans for their new strategy for the fall. They are proposing a vote on a measure that would temporarily fund the government at current...