President Trump will drastically reorder the United States’ priorities with his new budget, spending billions on defending the Mexican border and bolstering the Pentagon while simultaneously cutting funds for the environment, foreign aid and poverty programs to pay for it.

  • EPA funding cut by 31 percent, State Department funding cut by 28 percent, Health and Human Services cut by 17.9 percent.
  • Defence spending increased by 10 percent, Homeland Security spending increased by 7 percent.
  • The federal government is expected to spend $4 trillion next year, this budget only outlines discretionary spending, about 30 percent of that.
  • Full budget expected in mid-May.

The budget is set to significantly reshape America, taking away focus from what affects Americans every day.

Government funding for this fiscal year will run out on April 28th, and the 2018 budget will need to be in place by October this year – Democrats are threatening a government shutdown if funding for the border wall is in the budget.

Unlikely to be approved

Congress must approve presidential budgets, and they are always changed, often significantly.

The budget seeks for Washington to slash the government workforce, but it is all but certain to be rejected by Republicans in Congress, many of whom see Trump’s cuts as too reckless and rushed.

“You can’t drain the swamp and leave all of the people in it,” Mick Mulvaney, the White House’s budget director, said during a briefing on Wednesday. “The president wants to spend more money on defense, more money securing the border, more money enforcing the laws, and more money on school choice, without adding to the deficit. If they have a different way to accomplish that, we are more than interested in talking to them”.

While many of the proposals would be non-starters for Democrats, many wiould also be problematic for Republicans. For example, the $54 billion increase in military spending (10 percent) would require a repeal of the spending caps that are enforced by the 2011 Budget Control Act.

“President Trump is not making anyone more secure with a budget that hollows out our economy and endangers working families,” said House of Representatives Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi. “Throwing billions at defense while ransacking America’s investments in jobs, education, clean energy and lifesaving medical research will leave our nation weakened.”

Environmental Protection Agency 

The EPA is set to see the biggest cuts; seen as overreaching by the Trump administration, the president wants to trim $2.6 billion and cut 3,200 jobs – about one fifth of the department, the lowest level in 40 years.

This means that funding for climate change research would be axed, state environmental programs would be closed and regional bipartisan projects like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would also end. The Clean Power Plan will be defunded – regulations designed to reduce the environmental impact of power plants.

The United Nations would also see its funding cut in regards to environmental efforts, along with contributions to peacekeeping efforts too, for good measure. Contributions to the World Bank would be cut by $650 million.

Trump would increase spending on:

  • Department of Defense by $54 billion
  • Department of Veterans Affairs by $4.4 billion
  • Department of Homeland Security by $2.8 billion
  • Opioid prevention and treatment by $500 million
  • School choice programs by $1.4 billion
  • $4.1 billion down payment for the wall on the border between the U.S. and Mexico

Trump would cut funding for:

  • The Environmental Protection Agency by $2.6 billion (31 percent cut)
  • State Department and USAID by $10.1 billion (28 percent cut)
  • Labor Department by $2.5 billion (20 percent cut)
  • Agriculture Department by $4.7 billion (20 percent cut)
  • Department of Housing and Urban Development by $6.2 billion (13 percent cut)
  • Department of Education overall budget by $9 billion (13 percent cut)

Trump would eliminate these agencies completely:

  • 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 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