To pay for an increase in defense spending, a down payment on the border wall and school voucher programs, among other things, funding was cut from the discretionary budgets of other executive departments and agencies. The Environmental Protection Agency, the State Department and the Agriculture Department took the hardest hits. The proposal also eliminates funding for 19 agencies.
Source: Washington Post
List of decreases by department, in descending order:
- Environmental Protection Agency -31%
- State Department -29%
- Agriculture Department -21%
- Labor Department -21%
- Department of Health and Human Services -18%
- Commerce Department -16%
- Education Department -14%
- Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -13%
- Transportation Department -13%
- Interior Department -12%
- Energy Department -6%
- Small Business Administration -5%
- Treasury Department -4%
- Justice Department -4%
- NASA -1%
List of increases by department, in ascending order:
- Department of Veterans Affairs +6%
- Department of Homeland Security +7%
- Defense Dept.+9%
In addition, the budget proposes to eliminate funding for these 19 agencies:
- African Development Foundation
- Appalachian Regional Commission
- Chemical Safety Board
- Corporation for National and Community Service
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Delta Regional Authority
- Denali Commission
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Inter-American Foundation
- U.S. Trade and Development Agency
- Legal Services Corporation
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
- Northern Border Regional Commission
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- U.S. Institute of Peace
- U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Letter from Leahy
Earlier today, President Trump released his first budget proposal. Like Trumpcare, it is an utter failure.
I would hesitate to even call it a proposal: It is a budget by tweet. And just like Trump’s Twitter, his proposed budget is outrageous, haphazard, and divorced from reality.
This is a blueprint for the Trump Leveraged Buyout of America: Take over the country, gut the assets, and leave a shell behind. In this case, that means shaking down the middle class. Trump’s budget would shortchange middle-class families and the most vulnerable while putting our national security at risk, and we cannot — and will not — stand for it.
One lowlight says it all: Eliminate heating assistance for six million Americans, many of whom are working hard but don’t earn enough to avoid having to choose between heating their home and putting food on the table. Many of these folks are still digging themselves out of an historic snowstorm.
The Trump budget cuts billions in research funding for finding a cure for cancer or ending Alzheimer’s disease. This abandonment of research and education across the board halts important investments in our future competitiveness.
This budget also does nothing to address America’s crumbling infrastructure except to propose spending billions on a wall on the Mexican border that makes no sense.
And this budget sets the United States on a path to getting into more conflicts around the world by increasing defense spending by $50 billion while slashing funds for diplomacy. We do not make our nation “strong” by slashing budgets for international peacekeeping and security, eliminating the Food for Peace Program, or cutting our diplomatic presence around the world.
This budget is unconscionable. By raising our voices, we must reject this blueprint for the Trump Leveraged Buyout of America.
Sincerely, Patrick Leahy U.S. Senator
It’s just a draft
Because the media thrives on alarmism, it shows up all around us, even here. But don’t panic, a proposal is just what it says it is, a draft.
There are actually five steps to approve a federal budget:
1. The President submits a budget request to Congress
2. The House and Senate pass budget resolutions
3. House and Senate Appropriations subcommittees “markup” appropriations bills
4. The House and Senate vote on appropriations bills and reconcile differences
5. The President signs each appropriations bill and the budget becomes law
https://www.nationalpriorities.org/budget-basics/federal-budget-101/federal-budget-process/
Congress doesn’t usually just rubberstamp a proposal. As usual, however, it is a messy, overcomplicated process, often divided by party lines, where special interests and power elites are always the winners.