Trump gives GOP lawmakers 'brutal choice' – hurt voters or ‘break’ with president: report

The White House’s formal 2027 budget proposal revealed on Friday not only shocked onlookers for its historic cuts to social safety net programs, but presented Republican lawmakers with a “brutal choice” – one that could lead them to either hurt their own constituents, or publicly break with President Donald Trump, Axios reported Saturday.

Trump is proposing a staggering $1.5 trillion in defense spending for fiscal year 2027, plus an additional $200 billion for costs associated with his unpopular war against Iran, marking a 42% increase from the previous year, the largest surge since the Korean War.

To pay for the dramatic increase in military spending, the White House is also pitching around $73 billion in cuts to public health, housing and education programs, programs that are disproportionately used by key constituencies of the GOP.

“The coalition that delivered Trump his second term – working-class voters, older Americans, rural communities – relies disproportionately on the programs being compressed to fund the military,” wrote Axios’ Zachary Basu in the outlet’s report Saturday.

“Congressional Republicans face a brutal choice: Back a budget that guts programs their working-class constituents depend on, or break with a president who's made loyalty the price of survival.”