Article snippet: White House and Trump has made his interest known to Republican lawmakers. Paul Winfree, director of budget policy and deputy director of the Domestic Policy Council, told a gathering at the conservative Heritage Foundation last week that he and another staffer had been charged with "working on a major welfare reform proposal," adding that they have drafted an executive order on the topic that would outline administration principles and direct agencies to come up with recommendations. "The president really wants to lead on this. He has delivered that message loud and clear to us. We've opened conversations with leadership in Congress to let them know that that is the direction we are heading," Winfree said. Trump said in October that welfare reform was "becoming a very, very big subject, and people are taking advantage of the system." Welfare reform proved challenging for Clinton, who ran in 1992 on a promise to "end welfare as we know it," but struggled to get consensus on a bill, with Democrats divided and Republicans pushing aggressive changes. Amid that conflict, he signed a law in 1996 that replaced a federal entitlement with grants to the states, placed a time limit on how long families could get aid and required recipients to go to work eventually. It has drawn criticism from some liberal quarters ever since. During her presidential campaign last year, Democrat Hillary Clinton faced activists who argued that the law punished poor people. Kathryn Edin... Link to the full article to read more