Trump’s IRS Budget Cut, Explained

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Catherine Rampell notes a contradiction:

This is easily explained. First, Republicans routinely try to cut the IRS enforcement budget as a favor to the rich, who dislike being audited. Second, Trump’s budget, like his tweets, is a showpiece for his fans, not a serious document.

See, Congress is going to ignore Trump’s budget, and he knows it. However, he wants credit for having the guts to shake things up and propose big cuts. This will impress his base, which naively assumes that things like official budget documents are serious stuff. What’s more, years from now, when we’re running monster deficits thanks to Trump’s tax cuts, he’ll be able to say that he tried to cut the budget, but couldn’t get the pathetic lifers in Congress to go along.

It’s all part of the Trump Show, and we are just the audience.

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

PLEASE—BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things it doesn’t like—which is most things that are true.

We’ll say it loud and clear: At Mother Jones, no one gets to tell us what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please do your part and help us reach our $150,000 membership goal by May 31.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate