President Trump unveiled his $4.8 trillion budget for the next fiscal year on Feb. 10. The budget proposes dramatic cuts to domestic spending and new tax cuts, The Hill reported.
The White House says the president's budget includes $4.4 trillion in savings and puts the federal government on path to a balanced budget in 15 years. This budget includes $48 billion in proposed savings in discretionary programs, including $28 billion in program eliminations and $20 billion in reductions.
Programs slated for reductions in Trump's budget include:
- McGovern-Dole International Food for Education
- Rural Business and Cooperative Programs
- Single Family Housing Direct Loans
- Economic Development Administration
- Manufacturing Extension Partnership
- Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants
- Department of Energy Loan and Loan Guarantee Programs
- PL480 Title II Food Aid
- Highway Infrastructure Programs
- International Fund for Agricultural Development
- U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Deficit hawks say Trump's budget relies on optimistic projections for economic growth and unlikely budget cuts to claim $4.6 trillion in deficit reduction, according to USA Today. The Trump blueprint calls for a 22% cut to the State Department and U.S. Agency for International Development. It cuts the Education Department Budget by 7.8%. The Environmental Protection Agency would take a 26% cut. The Energy Department would see an 8.1% cut, while Health and Human Services' budget would be slashed by 10%, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development's budget would shrink by 15.2%.
Trump proposes a 14% increase Veterans Affairs, a 12% for NASA, a 3.2% increase for Homeland Security and a .3% increase in military spending.
House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson said the budget calls for an 8.2% reduction in USDA spending, $25 billion in cuts to crop insurance and $9 billion in cuts to conservation programs. The budget eliminates assistance for livestock producers in drought-stricken areas and ends the ability to provide U.S. commodities for food aid. The proposed budget eliminates the Rural Energy for America Program and several rural economic development programs. Finally, their proposed changes to the SNAP program reduce SNAP spending by $182 billion.