Democrats Find Their Economic Message: What Happened to Trump Populism?

Lawmakers say the potential cuts to safety net programs would violate the president’s campaign promises.

Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries speak to reporters.

Rod Lamkey/AP

Democrats have settled on a message against the House GOP’s budget proposal: It’s so extreme that candidate Donald Trump might not approve.

“Someone should ask him if he even supports the Republican budget,” Rep. Ro Khanna told NOTUS.

The resolution, released on Wednesday by House Republicans, makes way for up to $4.5 trillion in tax cuts and sets a goal to cut spending by a minimum of $1.5 trillion. A fierce debate among Republicans is ongoing and will decide how much and where these cuts will come from. But Democrats warned that it could include cuts to critical safety net programs like Medicare, Medicaid and SNAP benefits — some of which the president vowed on the campaign trail not to touch.