U.S.

Mulvaney's Office Says He'd 'Naturally' Vote For Presidential Budget

Mick Mulvaney told members of Congress on Tuesday he "probably would have found enough shortcomings in this to vote against it."

Mulvaney's Office Says He'd 'Naturally' Vote For Presidential Budget
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Article by Jake Jones
SMS
February 13, 2018

The Office of Management and Budget is trying to set the record straight about a comment Director Mick Mulvaney made to members of Congress.

In a Senate Budget Committee hearing, Mulvaney was defending the White House's $4.4 trillion budget proposal.

Sen. Patty Murray asked him if he would support the proposal if he were still a member of Congress. Mulvaney replied that as a representative of South Carolina, "I probably would have found enough shortcomings in this to vote against it."

He followed up by saying his current job is to "fund the president's priorities."

White House's Proposed Budget Would Bump Deficit To Nearly $1 Trillion

White House's Proposed Budget Would Bump Deficit To Nearly $1 Trillion

The increased deficit is despite cuts to some government programs.

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But his office released a statement afterward saying Mulvaney was actually referencing a recent budget caps deal, not the budget itself, in his response to Murray. The statement said Mulvaney would "naturally" vote for the president's budget.

It's worth noting presidential budgets, regardless of the administration, don't carry a whole lot of weight. Congress controls the purse strings and sometimes ignores the presidential budget proposal entirely.

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.