In remarks at a Virginia fire station on Friday, President Barack Obama discussed details of his veteran job corps initiative. 

Obama said his administration wants to help at least 20,000 veterans get jobs that will in turn help the communities where they’re working. But this initiative requires congressional funding

“So I want to send a clear message to Congress,” Obama said, according to a White House transcript. “Do not slow down the recovery that we’re on. Don’t muck it up. Keep it moving in the right direction.”

The president wants Congress to “take the money that we’re no longer spending on war, use half of it to pay down our debt, and use the rest to do some nation-building here at home.” Some Republicans have scoffed at that idea, saying that saving money you borrowed in the first place — then spending it on something else — doesn’t count as savings because it would keep adding to the debt. 

After Obama pitched this plan during his State of the Union address, The Washington Post’s Fact Checker called it “fanciful budget math.” Read more.