Trump’s budget asks Congress for massive federal funding cuts

The proposal, which was made public on Friday, puts pressure on Republican lawmakers to cut more than 20 percent of the government funds that Trump has been blocking since the day of his inauguration without their consent. As GOP leaders try to raise the money for the government before the shutdown deadline on September 30, tensions between the White House and congressional Republicans are heightened because Congress is not used to cutting anything close to what Trump is asking.

In addition to drastically cutting hundreds of millions of dollars in grants and other initiatives that the White House has labeled "wasteful," Trump's budget calls for significant cuts to important foreign aid, energy, education, and environmental programs for the fiscal year that begins in October. The administration is advocating for the dismantling of entire agencies in certain instances.

Simultaneously, Trump is requesting significant increases in money from Congress for vital sectors such as defense and border security, as well as for law enforcement and air and rail safety.

The president's "skinny budget," also known as the fiscal 2026 spending plan, is an administration wish list that is usually seen as symbolic and unlikely to be fully implemented as congressional Republicans draft their own legislation to prevent a government shutdown on October 1 and maintain federal funding.

The House's senior appropriator has not promised to accept Trump's totals as the cap for the dozen financing bills House Republicans intend to pass through committee by August, and Congress frequently rejects the White House's budget proposals in favor of its own spending plan.

This week, House Appropriations Chair Tom Cole (R-Okla.) told reporters, "Look, we are supportive of what this administration is attempting to achieve." With all due respect, however, I believe that the members are more knowledgeable than the Executive Branch about what may and cannot pass.

Despite this, the budget is a guide for Trump's political objectives and spending preferences, and it has become even more crucial in light of the president's continuous attempts to usurp financial authority from Capitol Hill members.

Trump has been canceling and freezing hundreds of billions of dollars without Congress' approval, which has led to lawsuits nationwide and 39 watchdog investigations into whether the Trump administration is breaking the law by "impounding" funds that Congress has already enacted. This year, the old budget day adage on Capitol Hill—"the president proposes, Congress disposes"—sounds less true.

Elon Musk and his Department of Government Efficiency have been charged by Trump, who has vowed to drastically alter the federal government in his first months in office, with cutting spending in ways that have caused a great deal of controversy. These actions have occasionally caused Trump to clash with members of his own party who are congressional appropriators, paving the way for a conflict over government spending in the months to come.

In light of this, the White House's most comprehensive budget proposal aims to reduce federal non-defense discretionary expenditure to just $557 billion in fiscal 2026, which is approximately $163 billion less than current levels.

Defunding Environmental Protection Agency programs that the White House rejected as "environmental justice" initiatives and slashing millions of dollars in Department of Education grants for preschool development and teacher support that the administration claimed promoted "critical race theory" and diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives are just two examples of the drastic changes to domestic programs and foreign aid that would result from the lower spending target.

The White House is also pushing for the closure of the U.S. Institute of Peace and USAID, two of the most well-known organizations that DOGE has targeted in recent months. According to a previously leaked budget document that outlined plans for a comprehensive department-wide reorganization, the administration would consolidate a number of smaller health offices and cut millions of dollars from public health organizations like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of Health at the Department of Health and Human Services.

The plan would reduce the Department of Housing and Urban Development's discretionary budget by about 40%. In addition, the budgets of the Department of Labor and the Department of the Interior would be drastically reduced by more than 30% from their current levels.

The administration also outlined extensive proposed cuts to dozens of programs in a variety of offices and organizations, including conservation campaigns, NASA scientific projects and funding for the International Space Station, and State Department programs aimed at advancing U.S. soft power overseas.