Donald J. Trump released his first budget request of his second term on Friday, May 2. While he’s reshaped the Republican party as far as political style, his fiscal year 2026 wish list is very much traditional GOP.
The $1.7 trillion budget proposal would dramatically cut many federal agencies’ spending, but would boost national security dollars.
Overall, the Defense Department would see a funding increase of 13 percent, or to more than $1 trillion. But non-defense domestic program spending would be cut by nearly 23 percent, officially 22.6 percent below current year spending, according to the White House.
That almost 23 percent reduction level is this weekend’s By the Numbers figure.
Winners and losers: The budget proposal was a “pretty historic effort to deal with the bureaucracy,” said a senior official with the White House Office of Management and Budget.
Excluding areas the Trump administration set aside for bumps, the OMB said agencies would see on average a 35 percent reduction.
The handful of non-defense agencies escape the White House cutting. They are the departments of Homeland Security, Social Security Administration, Transportation, and Veterans Affairs.
Uncle Sam’s other operations, however, would see their budgets slashed by at least 15 percent. And some would face double that reduction.
The departments of Interior, Labor, Housing and Urban Development, and State, along with the Small Business Administration would all see budget cuts of at least 30 percent. The Environmental Protection Agency and National Science Foundation each would have their budgets cut by more than half.
The OMB website has a summary of the fiscal year 2026 budget proposal. Details can be found in the 44-page document sent to Sen. Susan Collins, the Republican from Maine who chairs the Upper Chamber’s Appropriations Committee.
Wish list starting point: The annual budget proposal by the White House, regardless of which party occupies it, basically is a wish list.
This so-called skinny budget’s additions and subtractions, as noted in the cover letter to Collins, are just Trump’s recommendations on discretionary funding levels for the 2026 fiscal year that will start on Oct. 1. And presidential starting point fiscal requests almost never clear Congress as originally presented.
That said, we all are well aware that things don’t tend to follow the conventional Washington, D.C., path when Trump is in the Oval Office.
It was during his first term that the GOP finally was able to enact the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017’s sweeping tax law changes. Many of those tax provisions currently are being debated as the party looks to extend and possibly expand them beyond their Dec. 31 expiration date.
Plus, Trump uses the bully pulpit effectively against his own party. So, with slim Republican majorities in both the House and Senate, the White House might be able to get more of its budget proposals enacted than is usually the case.
You also might find these items of interest:
- GOP looking at 200+ spending cuts and tax changes
- House Budget chair proposes halving estate tax rate
- Trump's FY21 budget (his last of first term) calls for extended tax cuts and more IRS money
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