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.”

Since launching the U.S. war against Iran, Trump has seen his approval ratings fall to the lowest levels of his political career, netting a net approval of -21.4 as of Friday, with 58.6% of Americans disapproving of his job performance.