Trump's developing budget promises to make America unemployed again

Since his election, Donald Trump has attempted to shape himself as a “jobs” president, taking credit for numerous manufacturing decisions and new plants. But Trump’s “jobs jobs jobs” line will be completely undermined by a budget being modeled off the conservative Heritage Foundation, which proposes major cuts to important departments and programs.

The emerging budget, details of which have been revealed to The Hill by transition staffers, sets out the agenda for the presidency and will likely influence the eventual federal budget passed by Congress. The ostensible purpose is the age-old goal of conservatives to shrink the federal government, which necessarily means eliminating jobs rather than creating them.

The departments of Commerce and Energy would see major reductions in funding, with programs under their jurisdiction either being eliminated or transferred to other agencies. The departments of Transportation, Justice and State would see significant cuts and program eliminations.

The Corporation for Public Broadcasting would be privatized, while the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities would be eliminated entirely.

Overall, the blueprint being used by Trump’s team would reduce federal spending by $10.5 trillion over 10 years.

And the Heritage Foundation budget blueprint being used includes many more drastic reductions and eliminations to government departments and programs, including the Minority Business Development Agency, which provides loans and grants to minority small business owners and connects them with resources to grow their businesses; the Economic Development Administration; the International Trade Administration; and the Manufacturing Extension Partnership.

It also calls for eliminating crucial divisions from the Department of Justice, the Department of Energy, and the State Department, in supposed service of reducing the federal deficit.

This conservative budget would undermine so many of those “jobs” promises Trump touted during his campaign and ever since the election. Instead of creating jobs, Trump would be eliminating them systematically, from a wide array of departments, causing serious devastation for untold numbers of people.

It looks like Trump will drain America of something, but it will not be Washington’s swamp.