WASHINGTON, D.C. – President Donald Trump unveiled his Fiscal Year 2021 Budget request with polarizing responses from Southern California lawmakers. The president is making changes to resources many use in the state including Medicaid, social services, and affordable housing.

The request is just a framework or a proposal of what President Trump wants in the budget. However, he will likely have a hard time passing the Democratic-controlled House.

That being said, it is still the start of negotiations and most Southern California Democrats are not happy with it.

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The request wants to slash billions of dollars in federal support from Medicaid, food stamps, and programs for the low-income populations. It also eliminates the HOME program used in California, which would make it harder for low-income Americans to access affordable housing opportunities.

“This budget makes President Trump’s priorities crystal clear for the American people – it invests $2 billion in his pointless border wall, and cuts to the bone in areas like education, medical research, infrastructure, and climate science,” said Rep. Norma Torres, D-CA. “This is a self-inflicted wound, and it’s one our working class and low-income communities simply can’t afford.”

The proposal cuts billions of dollars’ worth of resource dedicated to after school programs and also eliminates National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Climate Competitive Research program.

But Republicans, like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argue, this plan is meant to help shrink the federal deficit, and while it doesn’t completely eliminate debt in the 10 year projection, it does reduce it drastically by slashing spending.

“These are frameworks of where to go I think the president is smart to help rebuild our military. We’ve got a deficit problem here and a debt,” said McCarthy. “We’ve got to make sure that we’ve got greater growth than we do today but we’ve got to curve the growth of spending. We want to make sure we protect Social Security and Medicare for the next generation. So there are ways to do that and that’s why the budget committee should get together.”

President Trump said Monday that the budget proposal would include $740 billion in military spending, yet would not touch Medicare or Social Security.

The proposal also includes $3.1 billion for 60,000 more Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention beds, which is over 15,000 beds the administration has asked for in the past.  

Many Southern California lawmakers are against adding beds and said the migrant families seeking asylum are being treated poorly in the centers and should be able to find other places and homes to stay.