Plan To Cut Coast Guard Budget Draws Heat

President Trump’s plan to cut the Coast Guard budget by $1.3 billion is drawing heat from Capitol Hill. “A dramatic cut of such magnitude is appalling,” said Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif., the chairman of the House Armed Services Coast Guard and maritime transportation subcommittee. Focusing his rancor on the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) rather than Trump, Hunter said, “Seemingly lost on OMB is the fact that the Coast Guard is the only military service with an extensive counter-narcotics mission with direct alignment to border security and law enforcement.”  He also called the proposed cuts “an insult.”