Investing.com – The Trump administration Tuesday will present to the Republican-controlled Congress budget plans that propose politically-sensitive spending cuts to fulfil a campaign promise to reduce taxes while trimming the fiscal deficit.
The plan aims to cut spending by $3.6 trillion over 10 years, balancing the budget by the end of the decade.
The budget is premised on an annual increase in the economic growth rate of 3% by the end of Trump’s term compared with a Congressional Budget Office assumption of 1.9%.
Over $800 billion would be cut from the Medicaid program for the poor and over $192 billion from food stamps. Most departments would see sharp cuts, in particular the State Department and the Environmental Protection Agency.
The plan proposes selling half of the U.S. strategic oil reserves and reducing the budget allowance of the U.S. Postal Service.
The corporate tax rate would be cut to 15% from 35% and the number of personal tax brackets reduced to three from seven.
Analysts said they expect lawmakers to ignore most of the proposals and draw up their own plans.
The administration’s ability to deliver on its economic plans has been clouded by a series of political scandals in which Trump has been caught up.