President Donald Trump released his budget proposal on Friday, calling for cuts to major programs, including health, education, and clean energy, while wanting to increase spending on the military.
The 40-page budget was sent to congressional leaders and along with a letter from Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.
The proposal contains $163 billion (23%) in discretionary funding, and a 13% increase in military spending — which also includes the $150 billion Republicans are hoping to pass in another bill.
The proposal also includes a $43.8 billion increase to the Department of Homeland Security, $113.3 billion for the Defense Department, and $500 million for Health and Human Services, which is led by Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
The White House budget comes amid a congressional fight to pass Trump’s priorities of tax cuts, more spending on immigration and the military, spending cuts, and a debt limit increase.
“It is requesting a budget of $892.6 billion, which is a cut in real terms,” Sen. Roger Wicker said in a statement. “This budget would decrease President Trump’s military options and his negotiating leverage. We face an Axis of Aggressors led by the Chinese Communist Party, who have already started a trade war rather than negotiate in good faith.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) slammed the bill and vowed Democrats will “fight this heartless budget with everything we’ve got.”
“Donald Trump’s days of pretending to be a populist are over. His policies are nothing short of an all out assault on hardworking Americans,” Schumer said. “As he guts healthcare, slashes education, and hollows out programs families rely on — he’s bankrolling tax breaks for billionaires and big corporations. It’s not just fiscally irresponsible, it’s a betrayal of working people from a morally bankrupt president.”
The next round of funding is set to expire on Sept. 30 after passage of a six-month funding bill in early March.
