The White House Trump grows under the deficit and plans to use its deficit against the Democrats

The self-described "king of debt"Is about to become religion.

Over the next few months, the Trump government will face several major spending and budget confrontations with Congress. And after generally avoiding deficit problems while putting in place an expensive tax relief plan, the White House is now considering repositioning itself as an improbable tax liability enforcer headed by its new budget officer. , a veteran of the Heritage Action conservative group.

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The series of budget battles will begin Saturday when the US government will reach its debt limit, already reaching the record of about 22 trillion dollars. This will not cause an immediate crisis, thanks to the Treasury's ability to continue paying bills for a limited time using the power known as "extraordinary measures".

Nevertheless, Saturday marks the beginning of a series of budget challenges for the White House Trump. The next step will take place on March 11, when the White House will release the president's key budget priorities, which will include a call for drastic spending cuts – and will be dead upon his arrival at the Democrats-led House. Administration officials met for weeks to develop a strategy to dramatically increase defense spending, keeping a promise made at the Trump base, while putting new emphasis on deficit concerns to undermine Democrats' demands for increased spending. – defense programs such as foreign aid, education and environmental protection.

It's a long-term plan to face accusations of hypocrisy – especially since it comes from Trump, who once boasted: "I made a fortune using debt." In private, many White House officials also reject the idea that the federal debt is a major problem.

This approach will also trigger another fierce battle that will last for months with the newly elected Democrats in Congress, who for the past two years have realized that the Trump administration is recklessly exploiting the deficit.

But officials in the administration insist that they have the advantage this time around. They think they have found a way to finance the increase in their defense spending – and claim that Democrats have more to lose with the automatic spending cuts triggered by the sequestration.

Russ Vought, Acting Chief of the Office of Management and Budget White House, sent the opening salvo in a recent op-ed deploring the problem of Washington's spending and warning of vertiginous annual deficits and the national debt. Some DC budget spies mocked, evoking a reaction that can only intensify as the battle warms and politicians start examining Trump's plan.

The president's critics said the Trump administration had backed a tax cut plan that would cost valued $ 2.3 trillion over 10 years and add $ 1.9 trillion to the debt. And after much consternation, Trump agreed to sign a big budget of $ 1.3 trillion last year – although afterwards, he told his associates he had regretted it, aside from the dynamism that he had brought to the army.

"He correctly identifies the problem and is totally wrong about the solutions," said Marc Goldwein, Senior Policy Director for the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, of Vought's letter of opinion.

And if the Trump administration really wanted to cut spending, these critics said they would tackle unfair political issues such as rights. A senior administration official said the president's forthcoming budget proposal would offer no further cuts to mandatory spending and would match what they had proposed in previous budgets.

"The key structural issues remain and have not been solved yet," said Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. These problems include the growing share of the federal budget absorbed by spending on health insurance and social security, two programs for the elderly, the disabled and children, which politicians have been reluctant to tackle. Peterson warned that the United States is on a "very unsustainable, dangerous and damaging tax track".

Trump's plan to increase defense spending without allowing the traditionally reciprocal increase in discretionary spending other than defense requires complicated calculations. Among the tools that the administration plans to use to reduce spending: the raid on the contingency fund abroad, which has not been subject to capping the sequestration budget set up by the Congress at the beginning of the decade.

Such an initiative has long been criticized by tax conservatives, including Mulvaney himself, who had once sponsored a bill to prevent the use of OTO in this way and called this initiative a "gadget". Democrats also oppose this tactic.

However, officials said Mulvaney was now in favor of using the OTO, although they privately acknowledged the delicate policy of its abrupt change. Even some members of the administration are reluctant to adopt this approach, which they reluctantly accept because it is the only option. "Personally, I do not like that," said a senior administration official at POLITICO.

The publication of the President's budget will inaugurate a series of deadlines for the administration, which should last until autumn 2019.

Even though the United States will officially reach its debt limit on Saturday, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that the country will not run out of money to pay its bills before the end of the summer or the beginning of in the fall, during which Congress will negotiate an agreement to increase debt. ceiling.

Congress must also reach an agreement by October 1 in order to raise the budget ceilings for sequestration.

Following the deadly closure of the government, budget experts believe that Republican congressional leaders and leaders have little appetite for any fiscal clash this fall, just as government funding bills must also be adopted. Republicans have seen their approval rating at the 35-day partial closure of the federal government along the border funding, with the majority of Americans in poll, poll after poll, claiming that they were accusing Trump and congressional Republicans.

"Like last year, I think they're going to work on an agreement on the debt ceiling and on an agreement on adjusting the ceilings for 2020 and 2021. Pressures will be exerted to make so that they're not forced to do it an election year, "said William G. Hoagland, former staff director of the Senate's Budget Committee, Republican.

Nevertheless, this sentiment did not stop the Trump administration and the new acting director of the budget office from making demands – even in this new era of divided government. Vought's opinion called on Congress to respect the 5% spending cuts imposed on the federal government, and then to increase military spending by drawing funds from the fund for foreigners.

A senior administration official defended the idea, saying that raids on the OCO fund were never an opportunity to cut spending and so it was a new and valuable idea.

"It's what's different this time," said the manager. "We say, we are in a divided government."

While the administration now sees OCO as a legitimate way to cut spending, some administration officials also say they are deeply concerned about the deficit – hence the expected proposal for a reduction. significant expenditure in the next budget.

Aides said that the Treasury Department would decide on the debt limit talks, while the Office of Management and Budget pilot the budget proposal.

Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin said he would like Congress to raise the debt ceiling without political confrontation or try to release additional concessions, which could irritate some Republicans.

One government official dismissed concerns that the debt-free struggle could become a political nightmare, calling the issue "a lot of violence and fury that means nothing".

But the debt limit and the budget cap negotiations will force the White House to help congressional leaders vote on a key issue, while maintaining the president's message, the king of debt.