Washington (February 12, 2018) – Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) released the following statement today after President Donald Trump released his FY2019 budget, “Efficient, Effective, Accountable: An American Budget”.

“The Trump budget is a document of contradictions and misplaced priorities,” said Senator Markey. “On the same day President Trump proposed an infrastructure plan, he released a budget that guts the Department of Transportation. President Trump can find billions for a border wall and increased defense spending, but slashes the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department. The Trump budget is about more emissions and more munitions. And the total elimination of funding for programs like low-income energy assistance and community development block grants, along with the assaults on Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security make this budget a social safety net tragedy.

“This Trump budget is a clear admission that the GOP’s previous bemoaning of the deficit was always just crocodile tears,” said Senator Markey. “After giving $1.5 trillion away in their tax scam to the super wealthy and corporate donors, Republicans can no longer pretend that their budget eliminates the deficit over the next decade. President Trump may have retired the GOP’s disingenuous commitment to a balanced budget, but he should retire the Republican budget playbook that attacks working families, seniors, and the poorest. I will fight for a budget that isn’t balanced on the backs of Massachusetts’s hardest working or most vulnerable.”

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