Look, I don't know how much weight Lindsey Graham's words carry these days, but seeing Republicans throw Trump's proposals back in his face is like a life-giving elixir.
The Trump regime will introduce a budget proposal at some point in the near future that is expected to call for cutting the State Department by at least a third while shuttering a dozen foreign services and possibly even eliminate foreign aid entirely.
For these reasons among others, Senator Graham says Trump's fantasy budget proposal is "dead on arrival."
"It's dead on arrival. It's not going to happen. It would be a disaster," Graham said.
He said that if Trump limits the State Department's ability to exercise "soft power" he is "never going to win the war."
"What's most disturbing about the cut in the State Department's budget, it shows a lack of understanding," Graham said.
Trump doesn't understand how anything works? What gave it away?
Over 120 retired 3 and 4-star generals signed a letter this morning urging the administration and Congress to not cut State Department funding, and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has also said he's against cutting the department's funding.
I have a hunch that cuts for State Department funding will not be the only very bad idea included in Trump's fantasy budget which is being drafted by recently-confirmed OMB Director Mick Mulvaney, a man so ridiculous even most Republicans give him funny looks. We should expect the Trump/Mulvaney budget proposal to be equally as ridiculous as both of them are.
And to be clear, that's all it is: a proposal. Congress is ultimately responsible for appropriating funds for the federal government. President Obama also released a budget proposal every year, but very few of his ideas made it into law after Republicans took control of Congress.
There's a very high chance Trump himself doesn't understand that his own budget proposal is nothing more than a piece of paper, but he will learn in the near future and it won't be pretty; it will be fucking beautiful.