Ranking Member Womack Statement on President's FY2020 Budget Request

Statement

House Budget Committee Ranking Member Steve Womack (R-AR) issued the following statement after the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) today released President Donald Trump's budget request for Fiscal Year 2020:

"As I have said many times before, we cannot address the serious fiscal challenges facing the nation without understanding the real driver of our rising deficits and debt: mandatory spending. Discretionary spending -- including defense spending -- today accounts for only 30 percent of our federal budget and will continue to be squeezed without significant reforms to mandatory spending programs that have grown far beyond their intended size and scope and have far exceed what we can afford.

"Now more than ever it's essential that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle and across the Capitol work together to make the difficult choices that put our nation on a more sustainable path, ensure a strong national defense, and preserve and strengthen the programs Americans today are counting on for the future. President Trump's budget takes steps in the right direction, but there is still much work to do. I look forward to discussing this proposal in more depth at our hearing with OMB Acting Director Vought and working with my colleagues in Congress on a budget that funds important priorities while acknowledging our fiscal constraints."

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