President-elect Donald Trump has named U.S. Rep. Mick Mulvaney, a Republican from South Carolina to be the new director of Office of Management and Budget. Basically, he is Trump’s top budget chief and is described as a budget hawk that is looking to curtail government spending and reducing debt.
Limiting government spending and reducing the debt seems like attractive options to many Americans, but at what price?
As you can read in a recent article from Salon, “Mulvaney has introduced numerous bills that have attempted to cut government spending, particularly on Medicare and Social Security.”
During the presidential campaign there were many Republican candidates who voiced an interest in cutting Social Security benefits, but Trump said he would not reduce Social Security or Medicare benefits. His appointment to the OMB is in direct conflict to what Trump pledges on the campaign trail.
The Salon article directly quoted Trump about Social Security and Medicare while he was a candidate for president. Trump said he would “do everything within my power not to touch Social Security, leave it the way it is,” and “we will not cut Medicare or Social Security benefits, but protect them both.”
Many presidents have appointed people to their cabinets or other government agencies who do not share their exact views on certain issues, and it is far from a foregone conclusion that this appointment means Social Security and Medicare will be cut, but if proposals like that are suggested by Mulvaney, Trump would have to decide whether he is sticking to his promises about Social Security and Medicare if one of his top officials feels differently. We are now one month away before Trump is set to take the oath of office and become president, so once he is in office it will give us a better idea of how comparable President Trump is to candidate Trump.
