WASHINGTON (AP) — President Donald Trump has proposed boosting defense spending to $1.5 trillion in his 2027 budget released this month, the largest such request in decades, reflecting his emphasis on U.S. military investments over domestic programs.
Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought is set to testify before the House Budget Committee at 10:15 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, April 15. Watch the hearing live in our video player above.
The sizable increase for the Pentagon, some 44%, had been telegraphed by the Republican president even before the U.S.-led war against Iran. The president’s plan would also reduce spending on non-defense programs by 10%.
READ MORE: Trump calls for a major increase in defense spending alongside cuts in domestic spending
“President Trump promised to reinvest in America’s national security infrastructure, to make sure our nation is safe in a dangerous world,” wrote Budget Director Russell Vought.
The president’s annual budget is considered a reflection of the administration’s values and does not carry the force of law. The massive document typically highlights an administration’s priorities, but Congress, which handles federal spending issues, is free to reject it and often does.
This year’s White House document is intended to provide a road map from the president to Congress as lawmakers build their own budgets and annual appropriations bills to keep the government funded.
Money for immigration enforcement, air traffic controllers and national parks
Among the priorities the White House called for:
- Supporting the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement and deportation operations by eliminating aspects of a refugee resettlement aid program, maintaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement funds at current year levels and drawing on last’s year’s increases for the Department of Homeland Security funds to continue opening detention facilities, including 100,000 beds for adults and 30,000 for families.
- A 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and the president’s promise to stop what the White House calls migrant crime.
- A $10 billion fund within the National Park Service for “construction and beautification” projects in Washington, D.C.
- A $481 million increase in funding to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge.
Cuts to green energy, housing and health programs
- Cancels more than $15 billion from the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law, including funds for renewable energy projects and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA, grants.
- A 19% cut in the Department of Agriculture, ending certain university grants, a 13% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and about a 12% decrease to the Health and Human Services department, including cuts to a low-income heating assistance program.
The White House is touting cuts of what it calls “woke programs” that often direct federal investments toward low-income communities. The budget used the word “woke” 34 times.
For example, the administration is looking to cut Community Services Block Grants, which funds activities such as financial and job counseling and helping people obtain adequate housing. The administration says its cuts would target grants “hijacked by radicals” to promote equity-building and green energy initiatives.
The president also seeks to cut $106 million in funding from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, which it says has “pushed radical gender ideology onto children.”
Supporters and detractors
The Republican chairmen of the House and Senate Armed Services committees applauded Trump’s request for defense spending, saying the money would ensure the country’s military remains the most advanced in the world while confronting growing threats from China, Russia, Iran and others.
WATCH: Sen. Scott says U.S. should balance budget but also ‘demolish’ Iran’s nuclear ability
“America is facing the most dangerous global environment since World War II,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Ala.
The top Democrat on House Budget Committee, Rep. Brendan Boyle of Pennsylvania, said the president was demanding a massive increase in defense while cutting billions from health care, housing and more.
“This budget represents ‘America Last,'” Boyle said.
Debt, deficits and tough choices ahead
With the nation running nearly $2 trillion annual deficits and the debt swelling past $39 trillion, the federal balance sheets have long been operating in the red.
About two-thirds of the nation’s estimated $7 trillion in annual spending covers the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs, as well as Social Security income, which are essentially growing — along with an aging population — on autopilot.
READ MORE: Federal deficits and debt will worsen over next decade, Congressional Budget Office finds
It’s the rest of the annual budget where much of the debate in Congress takes place, as Democrats over the years have insisted that changes in the level of spending for defense and non-defense need to be equitable.
The GOP’s big tax breaks bill that Trump signed into law last year boosted his priorities beyond the budget process — with at least $150 billion for the Pentagon over the next several years, and $170 billion for Trump’s immigration and deportation operations at the Department of Homeland Security.
The administration is counting on its allies in the Republican-led Congress to push part of president’s beefed up defense spending through its own budget process, as it was able to do last year.
It suggests $1.1 trillion for defense would come through the regular appropriations process, which typically requires support from both parties for approval, while $350 billion would go in the budget reconciliation process that Republicans can accomplish on their own, through party-line majority votes.
Associated Press reporter Bill Barrow in Atlanta contributed to this report.
