BUDGET/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT: “President Trump will instruct federal agencies on Monday [2-27-17] to assemble a budget for the coming fiscal year that includes sharp increases in Defense Department spending and drastic enough cuts to domestic agencies that he can keep his promise to leave Social Security and Medicare alone, according to four senior administration officials.
The budget outline will be the first move in a campaign this week to reset the narrative of Mr. Trump’s turmoil-tossed White House.
A day before delivering a high-stakes address on Tuesday to a joint session of Congress, Mr. Trump will demand a budget with tens of billions of dollars in reductions to the Environmental Protection Agency and State Department, according to four senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the plan. Social safety net programs, aside from the big entitlement programs for retirees, would also be hit hard.”
– Glenn Thrush, Kate Kelly, and Maggie Haberman, “Trump to Ask for Sharp Increases in Military Spending, Officials Say,” The New York Times online, Feb. 26, 2017