Lindsey Graham Says Trump’s First Budget Is ‘Dead On Arrival’

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a discussion hosted by the American Action Forum and the Foreign Policy Initiative about the topic "Will We Confront the Growing Security Threats?" on Capitol Hill in Washin... Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., speaks during a discussion hosted by the American Action Forum and the Foreign Policy Initiative about the topic "Will We Confront the Growing Security Threats?" on Capitol Hill in Washington, Thursday, March 12, 2015. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta) MORE LESS
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Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s budget outline is “dead on arrival” and that proposed cuts to State Department funding “would be a disaster.”

“It’s dead on arrival. It’s not going to happen. It would be a disaster,” Graham said.

He said that if Trump limits the State Department’s ability to exercise “soft power” he is “never going to win the war.”

“What’s most disturbing about the cut in the State Department’s budget, it shows a lack of understanding,” Graham said.

White House budget officials said on Monday that Trump’s upcoming budget will impose cuts on domestic programs and foreign aid to balance a $54 billion increase in defense spending.

More than 100 retired generals and admirals asked House and Senate leaders in a letter on Monday to “ensure that resources for the International Affairs Budget keep pace with the growing global threats and opportunities we face.”

“The State Department, USAID, Millennium Challenge Corporation, Peace Corps and other development agencies are critical to preventing conflict and reducing the need to put our men and women in uniform in harm’s way,” the letter reads. “Now is not the time to retreat.”

Read the letter below:

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