May 24, 2017 03:07 PM UTC

Gardner says Obama and Trump budgets faced similar opposition in Congress

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• by: Jason Salzman

In a radio appearance this morning, U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner (R-CO) compared the opposition to Trump’s proposed budget to challenges faced by “every president’s budget.”

“Like every president’s budget, it is met with significant challenges on Capitol Hill. I think President Obama’s budgets over eight years probably gathered a cumulative handful of votes in support of it, maybe less than 10 votes in eight years,” Gardner told KOA 850-AM’s April Zesbaugh. “Every president puts forward a budget, and then Congress under the Constitution writes the budget and the appropriations bills that we have.”

Gardner praised Trump for increasing military spending and said he’d “keep an eye” on funding for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) as “we work to reverse some of the changes the Trump budget made.”

Gardner made no mention of Trump’s budget proposal to cut multiple programs for the poor, including $800 billion from Medicaid, the state-federal health-insurance program for low-income people.

Trump’s budget, which partially funds a U.S.-Mexico border wall, also cuts student loans, food stamps, disability assistance, and more.

The New York Times described the Trump budget as encapsulating “much of the ‘America first’ message that powered Mr. Trump’s campaign.”

Listen to Gardner here: