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Collins, Pingree: Trump's Budget Won't Pass Without Big Changes

President Trump is proposing a $4.7 trillion budget that cuts domestic spending by 5 percent, increases defense spending by 4 percent, to $750 billion, and includes $8.6 billion for his border wall with Mexico, along with several major policy changes.  Two members of Maine's congressional delegation will consider the budget and both say there is no way it will pass as proposed.

Republican Sen. Susan Collins, and Democratic House Rep. Chellie Pingree serve on their respective appropriations committees. Both say Trump’s budget is only a starting point, and significant changes will be needed to get it through Congress.

Among them, Collins says, involves setting new spending caps. "Clearly one of the important things we need to do is come together and decide on a new package for what the spending caps are going to be"

If the spending caps are not reset, Collins says, they will go back to the 2011 levels currently in law.

Meanwhile, Rep. Pingree says many of Trump's proposals simply won’t pass the House. "I like to give it some deference and say [it's] not completely dead on arrival. But the truth is it is a process that has to go in a certain way, so you have to start with the framework of this document."

But Pingree says she's grateful that Trump has finally proposed his budget so the appropriations committees can begin their work.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.