Joan Esposito is joined by Bobby Kogan, senior director of Federal Budget Policy at the Center for American Progress. They talked about federal budget practices, budget transfers favoring defense, and the effects of reduced domestic spending.

Here is a brief summary of the conversation:
- Kogan said that Donald Trump's promised $5,000 checks are unlikely to become reality and would increase the deficit if enacted.
- A Department of Defense transfer from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) was recently approved under the Economy Act, which allows agencies to perform the same activity for greater efficiency. "If we think there are efficiencies to be had where a different agency could do the same," Kogan told WCPT, "it has to be the same. Like, that's the key point. It has to be the same activity, the same purpose, same everything. . . . I think we all have to ask ourselves: Do we really think the DOD is better situated for tracking infectious diseases and doing new research than NIH?"
- The transfer abuse also overrides congressional priorities.
- Defense has gained funding while discretionary domestic programs, including NIH, food safety, environmental protection, and agency operations have faced cuts.
- Health care costs are increasingly shifted from the federal government to states, seniors, and low-income people; the discussion highlighted risks to Medicaid, Affordable Care Act subsidies, Medicare drug coverage, and Medicare Advantage.

Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).

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