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One of the pledges made by President Donald Trump back in 2016 was to build a wall on the border between the United States and Mexico. Recently, it appears that the Trump administration is requesting more funds from the Pentagon in order to continue the construction of the wall.
As reported by the New York Times, Trump is expected to make a proposal regarding the additional funding needed for the wall as well as what will happen to programs such as housing assistance, disability insurance, and Medicaid. This supposed proposal will further implement his anti-immigrant policy, one of the things he pledged to execute if ever he was elected into office. This same policy is also part of his ongoing reelection campaign for the general elections in November. Trump will be asking Congress for $2 billion in additional funds.
It should be noted that Congress has the power to reject requests made by the White House as they are responsible for approving government spending. However, some proposals may still be carried out even without the approval of Congress. Over the next decade, the administration officials predict that Trump will do a $4.4 trillion spending cut, $2 trillion of which will be coming from the revisions made to the student loan initiatives and safety net programs. Almost $300 billion in spending will be cut from Medicaid, housing assistance, and food stamps. Federal disability insurance will be cut by $70 billion as will student loan forgiveness, which will be down $170 billion.
Foreign aid spending will also be cut by 21 percent, the budget for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be cut by nine percent but more funding will be added to the Infectious disease activities.
Meanwhile, it was previously reported that a few impeachment witnesses were dismissed from their posts. Gordon Sondland, the ambassador to the European Union was fired from his post, following the dismissals of Lt. Col. Alexander Vindman and his twin Yevgeny Vindman, an attorney for the National Security Council. The Daily Mail reports that Alexander Vindman’s lawyer accused Trump of fabricating statements regarding Vindman hours after his dismissal.
Many believe that Vindman and Sondland’s departures were done out of vengeance due to their testimonies of the President. Trump, on the other hand, defended his actions and said that Vindman was being “insubordinate.”
