The White House unveils budget, infrastructure proposals


Update 12:10 p.m. ET: The White House has released its budget proposal, which you can read via The Hill here, and its infrastructure plan, which you can read here. Our original post appears below.
On Monday, the White House is releasing its 2019 budget proposal and a $200 billion infrastructure plan, both of which will face long odds of being enacted. The budget proposal will seek to shrink the 10-year federal deficit by $3 trillion, from more than $10 trillion currently estimated, but will not even pretend to eliminate it — abandoning what The Washington Post drily calls "a North Star for the Republican Party for several decades." Republicans in Congress passed a tax plan in December that will add at least $1 trillion to the deficit over 10 years, and lawmakers in both parties approved spending measures last week that will cost about $500 billion over the next two years.
The infrastructure plan proposes to leverage $200 billion in federal spending into $1.5 trillion worth of infrastructure projects, either by asking state and local governments to match the funds by as much as a 4-to-1 ratio, or encouraging $6.50 in private investment for every dollar of federal spending. Many infrastructure experts consider the proposed private-public ratio "to be largely out of reach," The New York Times notes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"Readers should file both documents under the genre of 'science fiction,'" Axios suggests. "The budget is dead on arrival because presidential budgets are always dead on arrival, and the infrastructure plan appears to be dead on arrival because of a larger crisis facing the party."
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
The lesser-known Elsinore fault is a risk to California
The explainer A powerful earthquake could be on the horizon
By Devika Rao, The Week US
-
'This is not an unusual story'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Scientists find hint of alien life on distant world
Speed Read NASA's James Webb Space Telescope has detected a possible signature of life on planet K2-18b
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Markets notch worst quarter in years as new tariffs loom
Speed Read The S&P 500 is on track for its worst month since 2022 as investors brace for Trump's tariffs
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Tesla Cybertrucks recalled over dislodging panels
Speed Read Almost every Cybertruck in the US has been recalled over a stainless steel panel that could fall off
By Justin Klawans, The Week US
-
Crafting emporium Joann is going out of business
Speed Read The 82-year-old fabric and crafts store will be closing all 800 of its stores
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Trump's China tariffs start after Canada, Mexico pauses
Speed Read The president paused his tariffs on America's closest neighbors after speaking to their leaders, but his import tax on Chinese goods has taken effect
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Chinese AI chatbot's rise slams US tech stocks
Speed Read The sudden popularity of a new AI chatbot from Chinese startup DeepSeek has sent U.S. tech stocks tumbling
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
US port strike averted with tentative labor deal
Speed Read The strike could have shut down major ports from Texas to Maine
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Biden expected to block Japanese bid for US Steel
Speed Read The president is blocking the $14 billion acquisition of U.S. Steel by Japan's Nippon Steel, citing national security concerns
By Peter Weber, The Week US
-
Judges block $25B Kroger-Albertsons merger
Speed Read The proposed merger between the supermarket giants was stalled when judges overseeing two separate cases blocked the deal
By Peter Weber, The Week US