Trump Proposes $163bn Budget Cut, Slashes Domestic Spending While Boosting Defence and Border Security
US President Donald Trump has unveiled a controversial budget proposal that would slash $163 billion in federal spending next year, significantly cutting funds for education, housing, and medical research while sharply increasing expenditure on defence and border security. The plan, released Friday by the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), proposes a near-65% hike in homeland security spending compared to 2025 enacted levels, reflecting Trump’s intensified stance on illegal immigration. The sweeping cuts target non-defence discretionary spending — excluding Social Security, Medicare, and rising interest on the national debt — slashing it by 23% to levels last seen in 2017. Key agencies would face dramatic reductions under the plan. The Internal Revenue Service would lose over $2 billion, while budgets for the National Institutes of Health and the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention would be cut by more than 40%. “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 OMB Director Russ Vought. Vought, previously a key figure at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a lead architect of the Project 2025 initiative to downsize the federal government, was appointed Trump’s budget chief despite the former president distancing himself from the project during his campaign. Democrats criticised the cuts as excessive, warning they would harm vulnerable Americans, while some Republicans expressed concern that the proposed defence budget was not high enough. “This request has come to Congress late, and key details still remain outstanding. Based on my initial review, however, I have serious objections,” said Senator Susan Collins of Maine, the top Republican on the Senate Appropriations Committee. She also raised alarm over reductions to home-heating assistance for low-income families. The budget outline — a so-called “skinny budget” — serves as a roadmap for Republican lawmakers in Congress to begin drafting their appropriations bills, though it is unlikely to be passed in full given expected pushback in both chambers. Despite the cuts, the proposal does not address the ballooning federal debt, now at $36 trillion, and Trump’s plan to extend his 2017 tax cuts is expected to add further strain, worrying some fiscal conservatives and budget analysts.
Admin | 2025-05-03 16:26:46