Trump proposes budget cuts to US State Dept, foreign aid

Washington, Feb 11 (IANS) The Trump administration has revealed its budget proposal for fiscal year 2021, planning considerable slash in the US State Department and foreign aid from the previous year's appropriations, a move that is likely to be rejected by Congress.The US State Department on Monday announced that US President Donald Trump's FY 2021 budget requests nearly $41 billion for the State Department and US Agency for International Development (USAID), which the US media said was an over 20 per cent cut from the previous year's enacted appropriations, Xinhua reported.The White House budget reflects the Trump administration's priorities in spending negotiations for the FY 2021, which runs from October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021. However, the proposal is unlikely to become law as Democratic lawmakers have already voiced opposition to the plan."Proposing such reckless cuts to our critical foreign policy tools isn't a serious proposal. If this draconian budget were enacted, it would weaken our security and leadership around the world," said Eliot Engel, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, in a statement released on Monday."Congress will again reject this proposal in resounding bipartisan fashion," the senior Democratic lawmaker added.In the past three years, Congress has enacted significantly more funding for the State Department and foreign aid than the amount requested by the Trump administration.
--IANS vin