Senate Democrats are calling for President Donald Trump’s pick for director of Office of Management and Budget, Rep. Mick Mulvaney (R-S.C.), to be disqualified over his track record of supporting cuts to safety net programs.
Mulvaney, appearing Tuesday before the Senate Budget Committee, acknowledged that his stance on government spending contradicted Trump’s campaign promises not to cut Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid.
But, he said, “My job … is to be completely and brutally honest with him.”
That did not sit well with Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the committee’s ranking member, whose 2016 presidential campaign centered around pledges not to cut those programs.
The Washington Post reports:
“The idea and opinions of Mr. Mulvaney are way out of touch,” Sanders said. “And more importantly, they are way, way out of touch with what President Trump campaigned on.”
“One of the cornerstones of his campaign was that he was not going to cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. And he wasn’t ambiguous about this,” he said.
Sanders later tweeted, “I’m very concerned Rep. Mulvaney’s nomination means Trump doesn’t intend to keep promises to not cut Social Security, Medicare, or Medicaid,” noting several instances in which the South Carolina Republican went on the record as wanting to slash funding for the programs and raise the retirement age.
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