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On Thursday, President Donald Trump released his outline for next year’s federal budget, titled “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again.” In it, he proposed major cuts to federal spending, with the Environmental Protection Agency, Department of State, and Department of Labor among those hardest hit. He also proposed spending increases on Department of Defense and other US military operations.
As Vox’s Dylan Matthews explained, just because Trump released a budget does not mean his proposals will make their way into law. The president’s request is the first step in a long budgeting process, which includes the passage of budget resolutions in both the House and Senate, all of which must make their way through various subcommittees and a reconciliation process before a formal bill finally makes it to the president’s desk.
Trump’s budget faces extra hurdles: Because of the sheer magnitude of cuts Trump proposed in earlier draft versions of his budget, many in Congress have already indicated that they would be unable to support it. “It’s dead on arrival,” Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-SC) said of proposed State Department cuts that totaled up to 30 percent.
Trump’s proposed spending increases aren’t sitting well with some Republicans either. Though a White House budget official told reporters in February that the administration would propose "increasing defense by $54 billion,” the real number is actually more like $18 billion. Following the release of the White House’s initial budget plan in late February, Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) issued a statement that included the following:
President Trump intends to submit a defense budget that is a mere 3 percent above President Obama’s defense budget, which has left our military underfunded, undersized, and unready to confront threats to our national security…
With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obama’s budget. We can and must do better.
Though the newly released request marks the first official White House announcement of proposed budget figures, it doesn’t include details for every program in every department. It also only addresses “discretionary” programs, those that are due for renewal every year, and not “entitlement” programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and Social Security. The White House is expected to release a more detailed budget request in May.
Read the full outline here, or below:
