Congress to review Trump’s military spending, budget proposals

President Donald Trump released a preliminary plan Monday in which he proposed increasing military spending by $54 billion, a 10 percent increase.

The increase would be offset by spending cuts to other programs, departments and agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and foreign aid, according to The New York Times.

Chris Tausanovitch, an assistant political science professor at UCLA who specializes in American politics, said he thinks despite tensions with the Republican Party in Congress, many Republicans will agree to the increased defense spending.

“There have been some in the Republican Party who have voiced more strongly the need to control deficits rather than to increase spending on the military,” Tausanovitch said. “However, in terms of spending priorities, more are focused on defense than domestic.”

Tausanovitch added some Republicans in Congress want to make deeper cuts to entitlements like Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid than Trump wants, potentially causing a showdown with the president.

“Ultimately, when it comes to the budget, it’s going to be Congress that has to write budget,” he said. “The president’s plan is a blueprint, but it’s a Congress-driven process.”

Trump has also called for increased infrastructure spending, though his budget proposal does not include tax increases. Tausanovitch said he thinks Congress will have to decide how willing it is to incur spending deficits under Trump.

“When given the chance to be the one creating a larger deficit, politicians tend take advantage of it,” he added.

Trump will release more details about his spending proposals in an address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night.

Contributing reports from Mary Manukyan, Daily Bruin contributor.