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Pelosi: Trump Budget Is 'Literally a Killer' for the American People

May 23, 2017

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) called President Trump's budget proposal "literally a killer" for the American people on Tuesday.

At a press conference, Pelosi and other Democratic leaders in Congress slammed the proposed Trump budget as a nonstarter. While the White House says Social Security and Medicare benefits are left untouched, Pelosi said it "voucherizes Medicare" like Speaker Paul Ryan's budget and pointed to Social Security Disability Insurance cuts.

"With all due respect in the world for the fact that some Republicans are saying this is dead on arrival, they voted for the Ryan budget," she said. "The Ryan budget contains many of these same things. In fact, the Ryan budget also voucherizes Medicare. Medicare is a guarantee. The Ryan budget says, 'It's no longer a guarantee, we're going to give you a voucher.'

"It subscribes to their philosophy that Medicare should wither on the vine. So when we're talking about Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, this is a killer for the American people, literally a killer ... They have to know there is a price to pay in terms of public opinion if they would vote for this, but they all did already vote for the Ryan budget, so they've gone down this path before."

Pelosi added Republicans didn't believe in governance or science.

The Free Beacon reported Tuesday that "Trump's budget aims to drive economic growth through tax cuts and regulatory reform, bolster the military through defense spending, and achieve balance within a 10-year window, according to White House officials."