Trump Cuts $1 Billion From UN + Congress Hasn't Passed a Budget On Time Since 1996

Trump touts UN funding cuts as Congress's own budget process remains broken — all appropriations bills haven't passed on time since 1996, with virtually no public transparency. - UN funding cuts: Trump announced a $1 billion cut to U.S. funding for the United Nations over six months — 15% budget cuts, roughly 4,000 eliminated positions, and a 25% reduction in U.S. peacekeeping troops/police. He framed it as forcing the UN to "do more with less" and pushed back on any international AI regulation. - Congress's budget dysfunction: The Center Square's Therese Boudreaux reports Congress has rarely passed all 12 annual appropriations bills on time, relying instead on continuing resolutions that freeze spending at prior-year levels with no committee debate or public visibility into where money goes. - Interview with Mark Meckler: Meckler argues federal budget transparency is effectively zero compared to states, which generally pass itemized, often balanced budgets subject to audits. He says congressional hearings function more as political theater than substantive oversight, and that continuing resolutions let wasteful or fraudulent programs continue unexamined. - The proposed fix: Convention of States is pushing for an Article V convention to pass a federal balanced budget amendment, spending caps, and term limits — 20 of the 34 states needed have signed on. Meckler addresses concerns about reopening the Constitution, noting the process requires a 34-state supermajority to set convention limits and 38 states to ratify any amendment. What's your take — is a Convention of States the right fix, or is this better handled through Congress itself? Leave a comment below. #FederalBudget #ConventionOfStates #Congress #CenterSquare #TheStates