President Trump released his proposal for the 2018 federal budget on Tuesday, with the boasting name "A New Foundation for American Greatness." The plan would increase military spending by 10%, while making major cuts to government programs, such as food stamps and student loans, and aims to defund Planned Parenthood.
The budget plan is just a blueprint for Congress, as both the House and the Senate must vote on the plan in order for it to pass. The proposal is a more full-fledged version of the "skinny budget" Trump released back in March. Lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have said the budget was likely to be "dead on arrival."
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Trump's budget blames the Obama administration's economic policies for increasing the national debt, as well as arguing he inherited a "stagnant economy." Although the plan goes into detail about how a lack of economic growth has prohibited the U.S. from paying off its debts, the budget proposal relies on $2 trillion in growth in order to achieve a balanced budget in 1o years — a number that many experts believe to be overly optimistic and unrealistic.
While the entirety of the U.S. budget affects American women, certain aspects of Trump's plan would have even greater impact.
"No other president has gone this far in gutting programs for women and their families," said the women-centric political action committee Emily's List in a statement provided to Refinery29. "This is yet another example of how out of touch President Trump and his GOP allies are and how little they care about investing in programs that would actually benefit American families."
Here are five ways the president's budget proposal could impact your life if it is passed by Congress:
It defunds Planned Parenthood
Restrictions such as the Hyde Amendment already prohibit using federal money to pay for abortions, but Trump's budget goes a step further, proposing to withhold all federal funds from healthcare providers that perform the medical procedure. Therefore, Planned Parenthood, as well other clinics that perform abortions, would no longer be able to receive Medicaid reimbursements, and federal grants from Title X, the Violence Against Women Act, the Centers for Disease Control, and others.
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The impact on women would be devastating, as these healthcare providers would be banned from receiving federal support for things like cancer screenings, sexual assault, Zika prevention, STIs treatment, and other crucial efforts related to women's healthcare.
It requests money for a new paid family leave plan
The budget includes a request for $19 billion to implement a paid family leave program. The initiative would offer new birth and adopted parents six weeks of paid leave. The president's daughter and senior adviser, Ivanka Trump, is credited with being the architect of the program, according to CNN.
However, experts and paid family leave proponents argue that the proposal falls short of what new parents need.
It brings deep cuts to the student loans program
Trump's proposal includes large cuts to the federal student aid, which would increase graduates' monthly loan payments.
The budget suggests ending the Stafford loan program, which offers loans at lower interest rates for low-income students through federal subsidies. This would mean that students with less financial resources who request loans will end up paying even higher interests that they are now.
It would also end the public service loan forgiveness program, which allows graduates to erase student loans after working for the government or a qualifying non-profit for 10 years.
It slashes a big chunk of Medicaid
The budget proposal calls for cutting more than $800 million from Medicaid over the next decade. This would inevitably lead to millions of low-income American losing their health care. A White House official told CNN these cuts are based on the assumption that the Republican healthcare act that passed in the House earlier this month will become law.
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Before announcing his candidacy for the 2016 election, Trump touted that he wouldn't make cuts to Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Per his 2018 budget, there are no cuts to Medicare and Social Security.
I was the first & only potential GOP candidate to state there will be no cuts to Social Security, Medicare & Medicaid. Huckabee copied me.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 7, 2015
It will cut welfare programs
Trump's plan cuts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by $190 billion. This program provides the type of assistance most commonly known as food stamps to low-income Americans. A report by the USDA found that about 42.9 million Americans currently depend on SNAP. The budget also slashes the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families block grants by $15.6 billion.