When the U.S. Senate reconvenes after Labor Day, there will be three weeks remaining before the start of the 2017 fiscal year on October 1st. Because Congress has only passed three of the dozen spending bills required to fund the government, Georgia Senator David Perdue, who sits on the Senate Budget Committee, predicts there will be a continuing resolution passed, followed by an omnibus spending measure to get the country through the inauguration of the next president, followed by creating a spending plan for the remainder of the fiscal year that would reflect the priorities of the new president.
In an interview with GeorgiaPol over the weekend, Senator Perdue, who chairs Donald Trump’s Georgia campaign leadership team, was asked how that 2017 funding bill might look under a Donald Trump administration. After pausing for a minute, Senator Perdue pointed to some things he believes would be priorities in a Trump administration that could affect the budget.
First on the list would be defense spending. Senator Perdue believes President Trump would drive an effort to fully fund the military, a major GOP priority. The second thing that would happen would be a repeal of Obamacare. While previous attempts by GOP legislators to eliminate the Affordable Care Act have been vetoed by President Obama, Trump has promised to sign veto legislation is he was presented with it.
Also likely to occur would be the approval of the long-delayed Keystone Pipeline, whether by legislation or via executive order. A President Trump would also likely undo many of the executive orders and executive actions that affect regulations that in turn, slow the economy.
How would all of this impact the budget? Senator Perdue sees the military getting additional funding, while domestic discretionary funding would remain flat in the short term. In the long term, he sees a Trump administration working with Congress to develop a ten year spending plan that would get the budget under control. Longer term, Senator Perdue sees a goal of tying debt to a percentage of gross domestic product, and then developing a road map to get there.