The Trump administration will propose cutting the budgets for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development by 30%. The cuts are included in th 2018 budget to be released today by the White House. President Trump is expected to make good on his campaign promises to boost federal spending on the military, slash foreign aid, and cut funding for some regulatory bodies, such as the Environmental Protection Agency. The proposed reductions come as Trump looks for ways to offset what he has said will be a historic increase in funding for the military, coming after years of budget caps that started in 2013. Administration officials have said Trump wants to boost military spending by 10% over budget caps in place for 2018, or $54 billion, a sum he would have to offset with cuts elsewhere to avoid ballooning federal deficits.
After yesterday’s bump in the Fed Funds Rate by the the Federal Reserve mortgage rates are higher. The 30-year fixed averaged 4.30% this week up from last week’s 4.21%. A year ago it was 3.73%. The 15-year fixed averaged 3.50%, up from 3.42%. A year ago it was 2.99%.
Serving the West Side first, I am Bill Roller of BR Capital for 1360 KUIK.
