Mick Mulvaney says the White House's budget proposal will help people 'take charge of their own lives again'

In a press briefing Tuesday unveiling President Trump's full budget, White House budget director Mick Mulvaney defended the plan's steep cuts. The $4.1 trillion plan proposes slashing funding for Medicaid, social services for the low-income and disabled, and the Children's Health Insurance Program, while increasing spending on defense, the Veterans Affairs Department, and a new plan for parental leave.

"We're no longer going to measure compassion by the number of programs or the number of people on those programs, but by the number of people we help get off of those programs," Mulvaney said Tuesday. "We're not going to measure compassion by the amount of money that we spend, but by the number of people that we help."

Mulvaney said that this approach would enable the Trump administration to achieve a balanced budget and economic growth. "That is how you can help people take charge of their own lives again," Mulvaney said.

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Watch a snippet of Mulvaney's remarks below. Becca Stanek