McConnell: Trump’s State Dept. cuts ‘probably’ can’t pass Senate

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) said Tuesday that a budget that slashes State Department funding likely wouldn’t clear the Senate.

Asked if a budget that cuts the agency’s funding by roughly a third could pass the upper chamber, McConnell told reporters “probably not.”

“When we get to funding the government, obviously it will be done on a bipartisan basis,” he said. 

The Wall Street Journal reported that the Trump administration’s budget would cut the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development by roughly 37 percent.  

{mosads}Stressing that he was speaking for himself and not the caucus, McConnell added that the “diplomatic portion of the federal budget is very important.”

“I’m not in favor of cutting what we call the 150 account by that amount,” he said. 

The 150 account includes international affairs funding. 

Trump’s first budget is coming under fire from several GOP lawmakers.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) told NBC News that it was “dead on arrival.” Meanwhile, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) has knocked it over its level of defense spending.