Since Donald Trump’s return to the White House, we’ve heard promises from the president and the GOP that things will be different this time. When it comes to funding the government, Trump has been touting his “big, beautiful bill” for weeks. At first, the White House looked serious when Elon Musk and DOGE began weeding out wasteful government spending, but when it comes down to it, their cuts amount to chump change. Real cuts are up to Congress.
Still, the president’s proposed budget is a bold step in a town where the mantra is “spend now and worry about it later.”
As Politico reports, “President Donald Trump is seeking massive, unprecedented funding cuts across the federal government, unveiling a budget blueprint asking Congress to slash non-defense programs by more than $163 billion while keeping military funding flat. Already, Republicans in Congress are alarmed.” It’s not a surprise that members of Trump’s own party are balking at his budget.
Republicans have talked about tackling the federal debt for years, but when push comes to shove, they just don’t have the votes to make difficult decisions. So they keep kicking the can down the road or playing a shell game that makes debt look like a spending cut. Somewhere behind the smoke and mirrors is the reality that our debt will soon reach $40 trillion. As usual, Democrats are throwing temper tantrums and engaging in scare tactics before any real cuts have even been made.
But it’s all political theater.
“The press is portraying the Administration’s budget as a starvation diet,” write the editors of The Wall Street Journal. “But non-defense discretionary spending has increased by 45% over the last six years — nearly twice as much as inflation. The budget’s proposed cuts would hold spending flat.”
Discretionary spending is the part of the federal budget that Congress allocates each year to various agencies and departments. This doesn’t include mandatory spending on programs like Medicare and Social Security. The Journal adds, “Discretionary spending represents only 26% of the entire federal budget these days, compared with 34% in 2000. That trend shows how much the Trump budgeters are fighting over an ever-shrinking corner of a $7 trillion state.”
The nature of the budget process makes reaching an agreement challenging. Both Republicans and Democrats have drawn lines in the sand, and Republicans have no choice but to compromise, considering their slim lead in the House. But the GOP’s biggest challenge may be finding agreement among its own members. The Washington Post reports, “Some House Republicans say they won’t vote for a bill that cuts Medicaid. Others have refused to support the legislation unless it lets their constituents deduct more of their state and local taxes. Last week, one Senate Republican ruled out voting for any bill unless it pares back spending to the level before the pandemic — which would require massive additional cuts.”
One major point of debate is defense. The Trump budget flatlines defense spending, but that doesn’t sit well with the Pentagon and some GOP leaders. The White House ultimately wants a $1 trillion defense budget, but its proposal of $892.6 billion falls short of this goal. They’ll need to look to reconciliation to fill in the gap. According to Politico, some Republicans argue, “While reconciliation could deliver a cash infusion, it’s a temporary fix — not reliable or recurring. Long-term planning for major weapons programs and industrial base investments doesn’t work with one-time spending.”
Another sticking point is what to do about entitlements. Trump won’t touch Medicare with a 10-foot pole, but some Republicans think fraud and waste can be eliminated from entitlements while keeping benefits intact. Emily Brooks and Mychael Schnell write at The Hill, “Hard-line conservatives are calling for steep slashes that moderates have drawn red lines around, all as Trump insists that Republicans not cut Medicaid benefits provided to low-income individuals.
But the party of limited government is serious this time, right?
Veteran political analyst Kimberley Strassel asks an excellent question: “What’s a ‘limited government’ party to do after it has walled off cuts to discretionary spending, mandatory spending, progressive priorities, corporate subsidies, waste, fraud and abuse? Good question. And if not now — with the DOGE model and a bold president — when?”
Still, there are members of Congress fighting for a sensible and responsible budget. “It isn’t true that nobody wants cuts,” Strassel continues. “The House and Senate both contain a contingent of spending hawks who are dead serious about using this bill to make honest progress on the deficit. They don’t get as much (positive) Beltway ink as pro-spenders, but their votes will be as necessary to get a bill over the line.”
In the end, getting a bill over the line isn’t the issue. It’s whether the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility can live up to its principles. Republicans must ensure political infighting doesn’t keep them from seriously tackling our federal debt. With the 2026 mid-terms looming, it’s now or never.
