Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi proposes cuts to lower budget deficits

WASHINGTON (AP) — A senior Senate Republican has unveiled a five-year budget plan that would modestly curb budget deficits that would otherwise soon breach $1 trillion, while rejecting President Donald Trump’s gimmick of using war funding to sustain big increases for the Pentagon.

Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi says the nonbinding blueprint is a “responsible first step” toward curbing budget deficits “by reducing overspending and setting real, achievable deficit reduction targets.”

The Wyoming Republican’s plan would slow so-called mandatory spending by $551 billion over the next five years and reject Trump’s plan to declare $174 billion as an emergency to get around automatic spending cuts.

It would ease the deficit from a projection of $903 billion this year to $748 billion in 2024. It is set for a committee vote next week.

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