Washington, D.C. — President Donald Trump’s budget proposal would slash more than 30 percent from U.S. diplomacy and development programs, putting Americans directly in harms way, according to a new analysis from the Center for American Progress.
The cuts, if adopted, would leave America less equipped to tackle conflict, pandemic disease, and extremism before they reach the nation’s shores, the analysis says. It also would make the country more likely to end up in military conflict and cause untold suffering for millions of people—particularly the most vulnerable women and children across the developing world.
Such cuts would deal an enormous blow to an already beleaguered U.S. Department of State, where 7 of the 9 top jobs have been empty more than a year into Secretary of State Rex Tillerson’s tenure. Both the Trump budget request and the congressional budget deal lavish spending on defense programs while badly shortchanging diplomacy and development.
“It is hard to imagine a more short-sighted budget than the one the Trump administration has put together,” said John Norris, author of the analysis. “This is an approach that will leave Americans less healthy, less prosperous, and far more likely to be dragged into unnecessary conflicts around the globe.”
Read the column: “A Bad Budget for America’s Place in the World” by John Norris
For more information or to talk to an expert, please contact Sam Hananel at [email protected], or 202-478-6327.