Trump proposes slashing $163bn in government programs, while boosting military spending

The president’s budget proposal would also increase funding for military spending by 13pc.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday. Picture: AFP

President Trump proposed far-reaching cuts to federal environmental, renewable energy, education and foreign-aid programs in a budget blueprint that slashes non-defence discretionary spending by more than $160 billion, the White House said Friday.

The fiscal 2026 budget proposal is a largely symbolic wish list that lays out the president’s spending and political priorities. Congress, which Republicans control by narrow majorities in both chambers, will spend months debating which elements of the proposed plan should be turned into law.

The budget plan will propose $557 billion in non-defence discretionary spending, the White House said. It would reduce non-defence discretionary spending by $163 billion, the administration officials said. The administration said that represents a 22.6 per cent cut from projected spending in fiscal 2025, which ends Sept. 30. It wasn’t clear how the administration calculated that percentage.

Non-defence discretionary spending represents the portion of federal money that must be re-authorised each year and includes funding for areas such as education, transportation and public health. It doesn’t include Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, or spending on defence.

Trump’s budget proposal would also increase funding for military spending by 13 per cent. Picture: AP

Trump’s budget proposal would also increase funding for military spending by 13 per cent and appropriations for the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees border security, would increase by nearly 65 per cent, the administration said. Air and rail safety, veterans and law enforcement would also see increased spending under the plan.

“At this critical moment, we need a historic budget — one that ends the funding of our decline, puts Americans first, and delivers unprecedented support to our military and homeland security,” said Russell Vought, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, who cited past federal budgets full of “wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy.”

The president’s proposal builds on Trump’s existing efforts to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, roll back Biden administration clean-energy goals and target programs, grants and research funding the administration asserts contribute to waste or promote a political agenda.

Since taking office in January, the administration — led by billionaire Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency — has taken early steps to dismantle federal agencies and fire government workers.

Budget documents viewed by The Wall Street Journal show that the White House is proposing deep cuts to programs at the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Interior Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Education Department, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, among others.

Much of what the federal government spends every year is mandated by previous pieces of legislation and the US government’s obligations to its creditors, which have grown as the federal debt has ballooned.

Trump’s proposal is known in Washington as a “skinny budget,” which is typically submitted in the first year of a president’s term. It lays out top line funding requests, but isn’t as comprehensive as the full budget that the administration is expected to release later this month.

Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency has taken early steps to dismantle federal agencies and fire government workers. Picture: AP

The president is expected to send the budget outline to Capitol Hill on Friday.

Musk has estimated that DOGE would cut $150 billion in spending in the coming fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Musk has pledged to find $1 trillion in total savings.

Trump’s budget targets programs the administration views as “wasteful,” according to administration officials, who said it would encourage states to take back ownership of some programs, eliminate what the Trump administration sees as “woke” initiatives and reduce funding for climate and green energy programs.

It would eliminate many federal grants put in place during the Biden administration and require more financial participation from localities and states. The budget proposal would also eliminate some federal block grants or consolidate them to reduce administrative costs.

The budget also proposes expansive cuts to foreign assistance. Trump already dismantled the US Agency for International Development, or USAID, and what little remains is being moved to the State Department. The budget also calls for eliminating some of the agencies already targeted by Trump executive orders.

According to administration officials, Trump’s proposed budget cuts include:

• Eliminating offices at the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency
• Defending “environmental justice” initiatives at the EPA
• Closing USAID and reallocating grant funding
• Eliminating a federal program that provides grants to non-profits that help people who face housing discrimination
• Defending the National Endowment for Democracy, a non-profit that supports democratic institutions around the world
• Cutting what it calls “wasteful and woke FEMA grant programs”
• Closing the US Institute of Peace, a congressionally funded think tank that seeks to prevent global conflict
• Refocusing the National Institutes of Health on research that aligns with Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda
• Eliminating a $315 million grant program for preschool development that the administration contends pushed DEI initiatives
• Cutting $77 million in grant funding for teacher preparation and professional development the administration says pushed “Critical Race Theory” and DEI initiatives
• Eliminating the Minority Business Development Agency, which promotes minority-owned businesses
• Eliminating the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which promotes economic growth in poor communities
• Cutting $5.2 billion from the National Science Foundation
• Cancelling $15 billion in funding in the infrastructure law signed by former President Joe Biden for renewable energy technology
• Eliminating US investments in global funds to help developing countries deal with the effects of climate change
• Eliminating EPA research grants to non-governmental organisations
• Cutting $2.5 billion from the Energy Department’s renewable energy program
• Cutting $80 million from renewable energy programs at the Interior Department
• Eliminating grants at NOAA, which forecasts weather and monitors oceanic and atmospheric conditions, among other things

Wall Street Journal