Article Summary –
US Senate candidate Kari Lake proposes slashing the federal budget by 50%, exacerbating economic impacts by cutting defense, veterans’ benefits, and about 3 million jobs. Critics argue it would halt government functions and devastate the economy. Her proposal even exceeds Project 2025’s conservative budget cuts.
US Senate candidate Kari Lake on Wednesday reaffirmed her plan to slash the federal budget by half, a bold move that could impact the defense budget, veterans benefits, and nearly 3 million jobs.
Lake has consistently advocated for a 50% federal budget reduction—proposing a 75% cut during a Payson Tea Party meeting, according to Payson Roundup.
“Democrats, and some politicians in DC, they have overspent,” Lake said. “They passed $1.9 trillion spending packages, buying things we don’t need. So we’ve got to cut a lot.”
The spending package Lake referred to—the American Rescue Plan (ARP)—was passed in 2021 to tackle COVID-19 economic impacts. Though it raised inflation temporarily, its long-term benefits include a new affordable housing community in Phoenix, funded by a $2.5 million ARP investment.
Removing trillions for jobs, security, defense
Lake’s proposal threatens more than reducing excess—it risks halting the federal government and tanking the US economy. While vowing a 50% budget cut, she pledges not to affect Social Security and Medicare.
This, along with the 12% needed to avoid loan default, leaves just 5%—or $435 billion—to fund the entire government under Lake’s plan, needing allocation across:
- National Defense, current budget $1.4 trillion
- Health services, current budget $1 trillion
- Income Security—including retirement benefits, current budget $677 billion
- Government administration, current budget $400 billion
- Veterans benefits, current budget $331 billion
- Education and social services, current budget $228 billion
- Commerce and housing credits, $150 billion
- Transportation, $133 billion
- Natural resources and environment, $121 billion
Other areas include community development, international affairs, agriculture, science, space, technology, energy, and the federal justice system, which currently have a budget similar to Lake’s proposed total.
Such sweeping cuts would impact the jobs of nearly 3 million federal employees, affecting their retirement and unemployment benefits. A 75% cut, as Lake envisioned in July, slashes the federal budget to $2.1 trillion. Post-debt interest, only $1 trillion would remain for Social Security and Medicare—requiring $2.9 trillion—along with the defunding of all other federal entities.
Lake’s plan is more radical than Project 2025, Trump’s potential conservative guide. There, major cuts target US Labor, Education, and Health and Human Services. Essentially, Lake pledges to far-right activists to dismantle the federal government—or perhaps, she’s making unrealistic promises that couldn’t succeed.
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