House Speaker Ryan: Trump's budget is 'right on the target'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., praised President Trump's budget blueprint Tuesday night, telling Fox News' "The Story with Martha MacCallum" that "the aspiration and the goal is right on the target."
The blueprint drawn up by OMB Director Mick Mulvaney has been criticized by Democrats and Republicans alike for its proposed $3.6 trillion cuts from an array of benefit programs, domestic agencies and war spending over the next decade. Those proposed cuts include more than $600 billion in Medicaid payments and $191 billion in food stamp benefits.
WHITE HOUSE DEFENDS TRUMP BUDGET PLAN AGAINST DEM ATTACKS
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}However, Ryan dismissed criticisms as "the beginning of the budget process."
"The gun goes off at the starting line when the president submits his budget, and then the jockeying, the posturing and the prioritizing occurs," Ryan said. "That’s what you’re hearing there. People with priorities pushing for their priorities and that’s what Congress does."
The speaker also praised the White House blueprint for its plan to balance the budget in ten years.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"We never had that with Obama. He never even tried to balance the budget, let alone even propose to balance the budget," Ryan said. "So, what I see is a president keeping his promises."