The White House released a budget plan on Friday that would increase homeland security and defense funding while cutting back on initiatives already targeted by the Trump administration, such as public assistance, education, foreign aid, the environment, and health.
Although Congress is not obligated to abide by the proposal, it does describe President Donald Trump's vision and offer recommendations for fiscal year 2026 expenditures. The strategy made public on Friday is merely an outline, or "skinny budget," and a more thorough plan is anticipated to be unveiled in the upcoming weeks.
The plan is in line with Trump's goals of strengthening the country's defense and immigration enforcement capacities. Spending on defense would rise by 13% to $1 trillion. Additionally, it would give a “historic” $175 billion investment to “fully secure the border,” according to a letter acquired by CNN from the Office of Management and Budget and addressed to Appropriations Committee Chair Sen. Susan Collins.
For the budget reconciliation package Congress is now putting together to pass without the support of Democrats in the Senate, the administration is attempting to get these increases, which include $119 billion in defense spending, included. Traditionally, Democrats have opposed increasing defense spending without also increasing some non-defense spending.
However, some Republican senators objected to the budget's condition that defense spending remain unchanged unless the reconciliation bill is included.
Wide-ranging cuts to numerous discretionary programs that the Trump administration has been eliminating since taking office in January are also part of the agenda. Before a nearly $44 billion infusion from Congress's reconciliation bill, it would cut $163 billion from non-defense, discretionary spending, a nearly 23% reduction, to about $557 billion.
A senior administration official told reporters on Friday that the administration "protected" Veterans Affairs, Homeland Security, Transportation, and "numerous other priorities." Additionally, the proposal maintains Pell Grants, special education funding, and Title 1 support for schools with a large number of low-income pupils. Additionally, it allocates roughly $3 billion for wildfire suppression and nearly $27 billion for disaster assistance.
However, this implies that the majority of the cuts will fall on other programs and organizations.
The official stated that the administration collaborated closely with Elon Musk's Department of Government Efficiency to create the outline, adding, "This is a pretty historic effort to deal with the bureaucracy … that we believe has grown up over many years to be entrenched against the interests of the American people." "We believe this is a collaborative endeavor."
According to the OMB letter, the proposal calls for the elimination of numerous environmental justice initiatives, diversity, equity, and inclusion programs, and other "woke" activities.
The National Park Service, climate science research, foreign economic and disaster assistance, UN peacekeepers, some school funding, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, the National Institutes of Health, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and rental assistance are some of the organizations and initiatives that have been suggested for reduction. Additionally, it would cut almost $2.5 billion from the Internal Revenue Service, which Republicans frequently attack.
It would be a 7.6% reduction from the current fiscal year, totaling $1.7 trillion for the discretionary budget. The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, and other so-called mandatory spending programs are not recommended in the proposal.
However, the administration's budget proposal did not impress several important Republican senators.
Concerning the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program and the TRIO educational opportunity outreach program, Collins stated, "Based on my initial review, however, I have serious objections to the proposed freeze in our defense funding given the security challenges we face and to the proposed funding cuts – and in some cases elimination of – programs like LIHEAP, TRIO, and those that support biomedical research."
In her remarks, the Republican from Maine stated that Congress ultimately controls the purse.
"OMB's request amounts to a fifth consecutive year of Biden administration-level defense funding, which translates into a reduction in military spending after accounting for inflation," said Sen. Roger Wicker, chair of the Armed Services Committee.
The Mississippi Republican claimed in a statement that "President Trump's advisers at the Office of Management and Budget were apparently not listening to his successful campaign on a Peace Through Strength agenda."
"The Big, Beautiful Reconciliation Bill was never intended to cover up OMB's intention to completely destroy our military capabilities and our assistance to service members; rather, it was always intended to fundamentally shift the Pentagon's focus on programs like Golden Dome, border support, and unmanned capabilities," he continued.
Democrats criticized the plan as well.
The vice chair of the Appropriations Committee, Sen. Patty Murray, issued a statement saying, "This budget proposal would set our country back decades by decimating investments to help families afford the basics, to keep communities safe, and to ensure America remains the world leader in innovation and lifesaving research."
Trump's proposed budget will eliminate foreign affairs
The budget for the State Department and overseas programs would be drastically reduced under the proposal, by almost 84% compared to the previous fiscal year, including cancellations and rescissions. The projected budget is $28 billion less than the previous fiscal year, when those rescissions are taken into account.
The proposal calls for a $1.6 billion cut to the Food for Peace program, a $3 billion decrease to disaster relief, and a more than $1.5 billion cut to peacekeeping operations, which the administration claimed were "wasteful."
The National Endowment for Democracy, which Trump and Musk have targeted, will no longer get any funds. Additionally, in accordance with a Trump executive order, it eliminates "the majority of assessed and all voluntary contributions to the United Nations and other international organizations." It cuts $2 billion from USAID's and the State Department's operating budget.
Programs for electric vehicle charging and clean energy
The budget suggests eliminating $15 billion in programs from a 2021 bipartisan agreement, including funds for a project that would put EV chargers on public roads. Additionally, it suggests slashing $80 million from an Interior Department program that installed solar and wind on public lands and $2 billion in funding from the Energy Department agency that promotes renewable energy and energy efficiency.
Waste management and nuclear energy
According to the budget, the Department of Energy's Office of Nuclear Energy would lose more than $400 million because it intends to discontinue sponsoring "non-essential research." Additionally, a program that cleans up and stores nuclear waste at multiple locations across the US would lose $389 million as part of the DOE budget. Although it doesn't say where, the budget "reduces funding for various cleanup activities at other sites" while maintaining current funding levels for cleaning up the Hanford nuclear waste complex in Washington state.
The National Park Service
The National Park Service's operating budget would be reduced by $900 million, and hundreds of millions more would be eliminated from the agency's construction, historic preservation, and national recreation programs combined. Because they "receive small numbers of mostly local visitors," it suggests reclassifying smaller and less well-known national park sites as state-level parks.
Climate studies
The budget would cut NASA's Earth science studies, including "low-priority climate monitoring satellites," according to the agency. Additionally, it would drastically reduce the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's climate research and monitoring capabilities and cut off financing for climate research at the National Science Foundation. This would entail NOAA concentrating more on weather than climate with next-generation satellites. Additionally, the budget suggests reducing $235 million from the EPA's research on environmental justice and climate change.
Research in science
The budget suggests drastically cutting the National Science Foundation's funding, which would be 56% less than what was established in fiscal year 2025. In addition to financing for sustainable energy and climate research, the proposal also calls for support for "woke social, behavioral, and economic sciences; and programs in low priority areas of science." Additionally, funding for programs classified as DEI-related will cease.
Assistance with housing
Widespread cuts to government housing aid programs are part of the budget.
Eliminating the Department of Housing and Urban Development's rental assistance program, which includes Section 8 vouchers, and replacing it with a plan that would let states create their own rental assistance programs "based on their unique needs and preferences" would save the Trump administration over $26 billion. Additionally, the plan would cap rental assistance for able-bodied persons at two years.
The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities estimates that over 2.3 million low-income families participate in the Section 8 housing voucher program.
The $1.25 billion Home Investment Partnerships Program, which offers low-interest loans to developers and grants to state and local governments to increase the supply of affordable housing, is also to be eliminated, according to the budget.
Cuts to non-profits and organizations that address fair housing concerns are also part of it.
According to Deborah Thrope, deputy director of the National Housing Law Project, granting states and local governments authority over rental assistance programs may eventually result in less money for low-income Americans. It occurs at a time when the cost of purchasing and renting a property is rising.
During his first administration, the president made several proposals for drastic budget cutbacks to HUD, but they were never approved by Congress.
Programs for health care
The budget eliminates a wide range of health programs under the Health Resources and Services Administration that are centered on HIV/AIDS prevention, maternal health, and family planning, and it suggests significant spending cuts for the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC plan, which "refocuses" the agency on its primary objective, more than halved the agency's budget from $9 billion to $4 billion. This includes a significant cutback in the agency's financing for infectious illnesses, opioids, viral hepatitis, tuberculosis, and sexually transmitted infections, as well as cuts and mergers for state health funds. The $1.3 billion allocated for those projects in 2023 would be cut to $300 million.
Nearly $18 billion in funding would be reduced from the NIH, and four institutes—one each for global health, integrative health, minority health, and nursing research—would be completely abolished. The administration has already terminated financing for hundreds of relevant research projects and fired the majority of the directors of such institutes. The plan is similar to an internal document that CNN examined last month and that calls for the reorganization of the NIH's 27 research institutions into eight new organizations.
According to the budget document, the reorganization "would align with the President’s priorities to address chronic disease and other epidemics" and would do away with research on gender ideology, climate change, and "divisive racialism."
Help with heating and cooling.
The approximately $4 billion LIHEAP program, which assists around 6 million Americans in paying their utility bills, is to be discontinued, according to the administration's proposal. It said that because states have laws prohibiting low-income individuals from having their utilities disconnected, LIHEAP is superfluous and primarily helps utilities. (The National Energy Assistance Directors Association argues that while most states have temporary winter shut-off safeguards and some have temporary summer laws, all compel households to pay their bills after the protection period.)
Concerns about fraud and abuse were also brought up by the Government Accountability Office in a 2010 report, according to the president's budget. According to the study, the program's administrator, the Department of Health and Human Services, adopted GAO's anti-fraud recommendations.
Funding for education
Many K–12 and postsecondary education programs would be eliminated, and $12 billion, or 15% of the Department of Education's budget, would be cut.
Additionally, it would combine 18 grant programs into a single $2 billion formula grant that would lessen bureaucracy and federal impact on students and schools. Additionally, it would eliminate $64 million in support for Howard University, the only federally chartered historically Black university in the country, and combine seven programs for students with impairments.
Smaller organizations and initiatives
More than a dozen smaller agencies, some of which the administration is actively dismantling, would be eliminated under the proposal. These include the US Institute of Peace, the National Endowment for the Arts, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the 400 Years of African American History Commission, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, AmeriCorps, the Institute of Museum and Library Services, and the Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation.
The $1.6 billion Job Corps program, which the budget deemed a failing attempt to assist America's children and claimed was "plagued" by sex crimes, violence, assault, narcotics, and fatalities, would also be eliminated. Additionally, it would eliminate the Senior Community Service Employment Program, which offers low-income older Americans work-based employment training and community service. According to the administration, it falls short of its objective of assisting elders in finding unsubsidized work.
Trump's priorities for increased spending include:
Care for Veterans
The budget would add $3.3 billion to the amount spent on veterans' healthcare, both at VA medical facilities and through private providers. This sum includes an additional $1.1 billion to end homelessness among Veterans.
The America First Opportunity Fund
The investments made with the help of some of the country's most important allies, like India and Jordan, will be the main emphasis of this new $2.9 billion fund. Additionally, it would oppose China, encourage repatriation, and finance new initiatives to bolster American national security.
A $2.8 billion increase in the Development Finance Corporation's budget is also highlighted in the budget separately.
Restore America's Health
$500 million would go to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. for his well-known "Make America Healthy Again" campaign. According to the idea, the money would be used for environmental exposures, technology use, physical activity studies, dietary policies, and "over-reliance on medication and treatments."
Safety of rail and air travel
In order to sustain the hiring of air traffic controllers, raise their pay, and update the agency's telecommunications equipment, the budget requests $13.8 billion for Federal Aviation Administration operations. This is a $359 million increase in funding.
Additionally, it would allocate $5 billion for the replacement of radars and other FAA infrastructure and systems that make up the US National Airspace System. That is a $824 million gain.
Additionally, the government will add $400 million to grant financing for rail safety and infrastructure, a 400% increase above the level in fiscal year 2025.
Exploration of Mars
An additional $647 million would be allocated to human space exploration. More than $7 billion will go into lunar exploration, and an additional $1 billion will be invested in new programs centered on Mars, a topic Musk is interested in.
Charter schools
In order to boost the number of charter schools in the United States, the proposal proposes to invest $500 million, which is an increase of $60 million.
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