[h=3]GONE COMPLETELY[/h]The Trump budget includes a radical plan to get rid of 19 agencies in their entirety. They are:
African Development Foundation
Appalachian Regional Commission
Chemical Safety Board
Corporation for National and Community Service
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Delta Regional Authority
Denali Commission
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Inter-American Foundation
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Legal Services Corporation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Northern Border Regional Commission
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
U.S. Institute of Peace
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
African Development Foundation
Appalachian Regional Commission
Chemical Safety Board
Corporation for National and Community Service
Corporation for Public Broadcasting
Delta Regional Authority
Denali Commission
Institute of Museum and Library Services
Inter-American Foundation
U.S. Trade and Development Agency
Legal Services Corporation
National Endowment for the Arts
National Endowment for the Humanities
Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
Northern Border Regional Commission
Overseas Private Investment Corporation
U.S. Institute of Peace
U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
[h=1]The America First budget: Trump promises 'a new chapter of American greatness' as he wields the ax across government to pay for the wall and the military[/h]
- Trump released a blueprint today that makes cuts to discretionary spending to fund his border wall and the military build-up he's been promising
- State Department is cut deepest with a nearly 29 percent reduction that's targeted at foreign aid
- HHS will lose out on $15.1 billion in funds, a 17.9 percent overall decrease, if Trump's budget is approved in its current form by Congress
- The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides support to NPR and PBS, will see its funding phased out
- EPA facing a $2.6 billion curtailment - 31 percent of its current funding
- Trump's budget may not make it past the House and Senate - a top Republican has said it's 'dead on arrival'
- Dramatic cuts make way for $1.5 billion for his border wall with Mexico this year and $2.6 billion in 2018
- Adds $54 billion for defense without adding to the federal deficit
President Donald Trump's first budget blueprint, out this morning, lived up to the administration's promise that it would be a 'hard power' document, slashing spending in every federal department except Defense, Homeland Security and the VA.
Trump's proposal makes significant cuts to the Health and Human Services' and the State Department's budgets to fund his border wall and the military build-up he's been promising.
State is being slapped with a nearly 29 percent reduction that's intended for its foreign aid division, a $10.9 billion dollar decrease from the current fiscal year.
HHS will lose out on $15.1 billion in funds, a 17.9 percent overall decrease, if Trump's budget is approved in its current form by Congress.
The Environmental Protection Agency is facing a $2.6 billion curtailment - 31 percent of its current funding.
Trump is proposing the dramatic cuts to some agencies so he can put $2.8 billion more toward immigration enforcement in 2018, $2.6 billion of which is being set aside for his border wall, and appropriate an additional $54 billion to defense spending without adding to the federal deficit.
'We will begin a new chapter of American greatness,' Trump said in an introduction to the document that puts 'America first.'
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides support to NPR and PBS - the broadcaster of Sesame Street - will also see its funding phased out if Trump's budget makes it past the House and Senate over the objection of both conservatives and liberals.
Trump's proposal makes significant cuts to the Health and Human Services' and the State Department's budgets to fund his border wall and the military build-up he's been promising.
State is being slapped with a nearly 29 percent reduction that's intended for its foreign aid division, a $10.9 billion dollar decrease from the current fiscal year.
HHS will lose out on $15.1 billion in funds, a 17.9 percent overall decrease, if Trump's budget is approved in its current form by Congress.
The Environmental Protection Agency is facing a $2.6 billion curtailment - 31 percent of its current funding.
Trump is proposing the dramatic cuts to some agencies so he can put $2.8 billion more toward immigration enforcement in 2018, $2.6 billion of which is being set aside for his border wall, and appropriate an additional $54 billion to defense spending without adding to the federal deficit.
'We will begin a new chapter of American greatness,' Trump said in an introduction to the document that puts 'America first.'
The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which provides support to NPR and PBS - the broadcaster of Sesame Street - will also see its funding phased out if Trump's budget makes it past the House and Senate over the objection of both conservatives and liberals.
President Donald Trump, pictured returning from Nashville on Wednesday night, released a budget blueprint today that makes cuts to discretionary spending to fund his border wall and the military build-up he's been promising
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U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to reporters aboard Air Force One as they approach Joint Base Andrews, Maryland following his rally in Nashville
The blueprint does not deal with mandatory spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security or revenue sources nor does it try to balance the federal budget.
Discretionary spending, which came in at $1.1 trillion in 2017, according to Trump's Office of Management and Budget, is reduced by 13.6 billion in 2018, a 1.2 percent decrease that promotes fiscal responsibility and aims to 'redefine the proper role of the Federal Government.'
It will be up to affected agencies to figure out how to implement cuts, the president's budget director has said.
'We've given them a tremendous amount of flexibility within their own agencies this year,' OMB Director Mick Mulvaney claimed Wednesday during a briefing for White House reporters.
Budget Director Mick Mulvaney says the State Department will see most of its discretionary budget eliminated if Trump's has his way - but only because he wants to get rid of foreign aid
Some administration priorities are very specific, however. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is facing a sizable cut intended 'to free up funding for critical priorities here at home and put America first.'
'This is a hard power budget. This is not a soft power budget,' Mulvaney said of the appropriations. 'This is a hard-power budget. And that was done intentionally. The President very clearly wants to send a message to our allies and our potential adversaries that this is a strong power administration.'
In 2017, State received $38 billion in base discretionary spending. Most of that, $22.7 billion according to The Balance, went to foreign aid. That amounts to roughly two percent of the total allocation for discretionary spending.
Foreign aid will be slashed by 28 percent in FY 2018, if Trump has his way.
A 2015 review conducted by NPR of foreign aid spending found that the largest share goes to HIV/AIDS programs. Economic development such as infrastructure building and Internet access, along with humanitarian assistance, accounts for another third of the money.
The blueprint that came out on Thursday said State should have enough money to maintain its HIV/AIDS and malaria programs at their current levels.
Mulvaney insisted on Wednesday that the reduction is not meant to minimize Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or his department - the foreign aid line items 'just happen to fall within their functions.'
'We believe that we have protected the core diplomatic function of state, and that's why I say this is not a reflection of the president's policies regarding an attitude toward State,' he said. 'The president believes very strongly in what Mr. Tillerson is doing.'
Discretionary spending, which came in at $1.1 trillion in 2017, according to Trump's Office of Management and Budget, is reduced by 13.6 billion in 2018, a 1.2 percent decrease that promotes fiscal responsibility and aims to 'redefine the proper role of the Federal Government.'
It will be up to affected agencies to figure out how to implement cuts, the president's budget director has said.
'We've given them a tremendous amount of flexibility within their own agencies this year,' OMB Director Mick Mulvaney claimed Wednesday during a briefing for White House reporters.
Budget Director Mick Mulvaney says the State Department will see most of its discretionary budget eliminated if Trump's has his way - but only because he wants to get rid of foreign aid
Some administration priorities are very specific, however. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is facing a sizable cut intended 'to free up funding for critical priorities here at home and put America first.'
'This is a hard power budget. This is not a soft power budget,' Mulvaney said of the appropriations. 'This is a hard-power budget. And that was done intentionally. The President very clearly wants to send a message to our allies and our potential adversaries that this is a strong power administration.'
In 2017, State received $38 billion in base discretionary spending. Most of that, $22.7 billion according to The Balance, went to foreign aid. That amounts to roughly two percent of the total allocation for discretionary spending.
Foreign aid will be slashed by 28 percent in FY 2018, if Trump has his way.
A 2015 review conducted by NPR of foreign aid spending found that the largest share goes to HIV/AIDS programs. Economic development such as infrastructure building and Internet access, along with humanitarian assistance, accounts for another third of the money.
The blueprint that came out on Thursday said State should have enough money to maintain its HIV/AIDS and malaria programs at their current levels.
Mulvaney insisted on Wednesday that the reduction is not meant to minimize Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or his department - the foreign aid line items 'just happen to fall within their functions.'
'We believe that we have protected the core diplomatic function of state, and that's why I say this is not a reflection of the president's policies regarding an attitude toward State,' he said. 'The president believes very strongly in what Mr. Tillerson is doing.'
Funding for the UN is reduced altogether, including for peacekeeping operations, 'setting the expectation that these organizations rein in costs and that the funding burden be shared more fairly among members,' the budget document says.
'The amount the U.S. would contribute to the UN budget would be reduced and the U.S. would not contribute more than 25 percent for UN peacekeeping costs.'
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Thursday that first cut was to overtime.
'There was way too much overtime there, but then you look at the United Nations, the secretary general is new just like I am, and we both came together on the efficiencies that are needed in peacekeeping reform, which we've spent a ton of money on, and we've come together on management reform,' she said on the Today show.
Haley added, 'We need Russia to step up and pay more, we need other countries to step up and pay more, we've carried the burden for a very long time.'
Explaining the cuts to foreign aid in the budget, Trump said, 'It is time to prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share.'
The administration further tells State it must put $2.2 billion toward new embassy construction and maintenance and provide $3.1 billion for Israel's defense.
The slashing of the diplomatic division's budget had Sen. Lindsey Graham preemptively declaring Trump's budget 'dead on arrival' after the administration offered a preview two weeks ago.
'It's not going to happen,' the Republican senator told NBC News. 'It would be a disaster.'
'The amount the U.S. would contribute to the UN budget would be reduced and the U.S. would not contribute more than 25 percent for UN peacekeeping costs.'
US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley said Thursday that first cut was to overtime.
'There was way too much overtime there, but then you look at the United Nations, the secretary general is new just like I am, and we both came together on the efficiencies that are needed in peacekeeping reform, which we've spent a ton of money on, and we've come together on management reform,' she said on the Today show.
Haley added, 'We need Russia to step up and pay more, we need other countries to step up and pay more, we've carried the burden for a very long time.'
Explaining the cuts to foreign aid in the budget, Trump said, 'It is time to prioritize the security and well-being of Americans, and to ask the rest of the world to step up and pay its fair share.'
The administration further tells State it must put $2.2 billion toward new embassy construction and maintenance and provide $3.1 billion for Israel's defense.
The slashing of the diplomatic division's budget had Sen. Lindsey Graham preemptively declaring Trump's budget 'dead on arrival' after the administration offered a preview two weeks ago.
'It's not going to happen,' the Republican senator told NBC News. 'It would be a disaster.'
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HHS will lose out on 12.6 billion, a 16.2 percent decrease, if Trump's budget is approved in its current form by Congress
Graham said the pared-down appropriations would put State Department employees at risk.
His concerns about the budget slashing were echoed by Republicans and Democrats that serve on the Senate's Foreign Relations Committee.
'Foreign Aid is not charity,' Republican Sen. Marco Rubio said in a tweet. 'We must make sure it is well spent, but it is less than 1% of budget & critical to our national security.'
Delaware Democrat Chris Coons argued, 'The aid we provide to countries around the world directly advances U.S. national interests by fostering a safer and more stable world.'
Mitch McConnell, the top dog in the Senate, is also against the steep State Department cuts.
'The diplomatic portion of the federal budget is very important and you get results a lot cheaper frequently than you do on the defense side,' the GOP leader told reporters, according to the Associated Press. 'So speaking for myself, I’m not in favor of reducing the (foreign aid) account to that extent.'
Commenting on the coming assault on the State Department budget and other rumored chops, House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rodney Frelinghuysen, a Republican, told the Associated Press, 'We’ve reduced our discretionary spending over the last seven or eight years an incredible amount. Maybe some people don’t like those agencies, but it’s been pretty difficult for them to meet their mandate.'
After the formal budget proposal came out on Thursday, Democrats heaped on.
'This is a budget that is deeply destructive for America. It would gravely undermine our nation’s long-time commitment to providing opportunity to all, promoting a healthy America, and protecting our environment,' said Michigan Rep. Sander Levin.
Sen. Mike Lee, a Utah Republican, said the president was right to eliminate so many programs, however.
'Trump should be commended for making some of the tough calls necessary to move our country in a direction of solvency, with the principle of federalism in mind,' the conservative senator said.
'Also, while our intentions abroad are oftentimes noble, it is important to remember that we have many pressing needs at home. We should prioritize spending that will address these domestic needs, thus fulfilling our promise to put Americans first again.'
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Trump is proposing the dramatic cuts to some agencies so he can put $2.8 billion more toward immigration enforcement in 2018, $2.6 billion of which is being set aside for his border wall
One of the agencies Trump targets is the EPA. It would receive 31 percent less than it did before and a total of $5.7 billion in FY 2018 if Congress approves Trump's expenditures.
Trump appropriates nothing to the Clean Power Plan, international climate change programs, climate change research or any related efforts. The OMB says the cuts will 'save' taxpayers $100 million.
The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, the Chesapeake Bay, and other regional geographic programs are being defunded in order to lift the federal government's burden by $427 million.
'The Budget returns the responsibility for funding local environmental efforts and programs to State and local entities, allowing EPA to focus on its highest national priorities,' the blueprint says.
On the chopping block more than 50 EPA programs that OMB says will free up another $347 million.
The biggest ticket item in Trump's budget is defense spending, at $54 billion.
'The military has been forced to make aging ships, planes, and other vehicles last well beyond their intended life spans. The President will reverse this dangerous trend,' Mulvaney says in his introduction to the spending document. 'From rebuilding our Armed Forces to beefing up our border security and safeguarding our Nation’s sovereignty, this Budget makes security priority one.'
The document goes on to say that Trump's budget 'provides the resources needed to accelerate the defeat of ISIS' and 'stop ISIS from posing a threat to the United States.'
It does that by funding efforts 'to strike ISIS targets, support our partners fighting on the ground, disrupt ISIS’ external operations, and cut off its financing,' the blueprint says.
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'DEAD ON ARRIVAL': The slashing of the diplomatic portion of the federal budget had Sen. Lindsey Graham preemptively declaring Trump's budget a non-starter
Trump wants a $574 billion base budget for Defense and $65 billion for Overseas Contingency Operations for a total of $639 billion.
The Pentagon will get a $52 billion boost in the Trump budget that repeals sequestration. The other two billion he's requesting for defense is spent elsewhere. The Department of Energy will get some of the money, for instance, for nuclear energy programs.
'This is a hard power budget. This is not a soft power budget,' says OMB Director Mick Mulvaney
Senate Armed Services Chairman John McCain had asked the administration to increase the Pentagon's base budget to $640 billion for a total budget of $700 billion.
'With a world on fire, America cannot secure peace through strength with just 3 percent more than President Obama’s budget,' he said after the budget preview came out. 'We can and must do better.'
Also on Thursday, Mulvaney said the administration will be putting out a document that asks for revisions to the 2017 budget and a supplemental request of $30 billion for defense and the border for the current fiscal year, allowing Trump to jumpstart construction on his fencing structure.
Trump is also proposing $1.5 billion for construction of his proposed border fence this year, and $2.6 billion in 2018.
Of the appropriation, Mulvaney said, 'It's all that we think that we can spend this year.
'The next question is going to be, how many miles of wall does that build, right? And we don’t know the answer to that question because we haven’t settled on construction types,' he revealed. 'We haven’t settled on where we’re going to start.
'I think the funding provides for a couple of different pilot cases...different kinds of barriers in different kinds of places, as we try and find the most cost-efficient, the safest, and also the most effective border protections. They may be different in different areas,' he stated.
Mulvaney said Trump's full FY 2018 budget, slated for May, will include 10-year cost projections for the wall the president has said will be paid for one way or another by Mexico.
For now, the money will come out of the general Treasury.
'We did not say, we need $1.5 billion for the wall, let’s go over and reduce this program over at education, and move that $1.5 billion over to the wall. We dealt with it more holistically,' Mulvaney explained.
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Cut the deepest is the State Department, which is being slapped with a 28 per cent reduction to its foreign aid division
'We plussed-up the various items I've talked about, and then we went looking for the most inefficient, most wasteful, most indefensible programs in other areas. So you couldn’t follow it dollar for dollar.'
Overall, the Department of Homeland Security is slated to get close to a seven percent increase in federal funds next year for a total of $44.1 billion in discretionary funds.
That includes $314 million for the 500 new Border Patrol Agents that Trump has ordered and 1,000 new Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers and personnel and $15 million for the mandatory implementation of the E-Verify workforce program.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) will have its budget cut by $667 million in the process.
Programs being cut 'are either unauthorized by the Congress' or 'supplanting other stakeholders’ responsibilities,' the budget blueprint says.
TSA is also being knocked down a rung, receiving $80 million less than in did in 2017 to bring about the end of 'unauthorized and underperforming programs...in order to strengthen screening at airport security checkpoints.'
The document also calls for a $1.4 billion uptick in funds for private and public school choice, but only after a $9 billion, 13 percent, decrease in overall funds for the Department of Education.
The administration had been vague about National Institute of Health funding for studies on disease prevention - an area that Democrats have laced into the administration over.
'The same time he’s talking about medical research he’s going to slash it,' Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer said at the end of February. 'Education. He talked about the great issue of education. Same thing. His budget is going to slash education to smithereens.
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Sidelined: Mulvaney said Trump's budget is not meant to minimize Secretary of State Rex Tillerson or his department - the foreign aid line items 'just happen to fall within their functions'
The budget revealed a $5.8 billion reduction in spending to $25.9 billion that it says will 'help focus resources on the highest priority research and training activities.'
In addition to agency eliminations and consolidations, Trump's budget purports to 'reduces administrative costs and rebalance Federal contributions to research funding.'
Getting more money are veterans. The VA is only department that is seeing an increase other than DHS and Defense. A $4.4. billion, six percent increase is on the books for department, bringing its total discretionary funding up to $78.9 billion.
The money is appropriated to an improvement in access to medical care and social services for the nation's veteran population.
The Energy Department is losing $1.7 billion and has been ordered to appropriate another $120 million to licensing for the Yucca Mountain nuclear waste repository, a program that was put on hold in the Obama administration.
Trump wants a total of $1.4 billion more to go to the National Nuclear Security Administration, an 11 percent increase over FY 2017.
One major agency receiving a diminution was NASA. It will have a $19.1 billion budget after a reduction of nearly one percent.
'But a lot of the programs within there are actually increased in order to align with the President’s priorities, and that includes some of the exploring other planets,' Mulvaney said.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is losing $250 million from the Commerce Department for grants and programs that support coastal and marine research and education.
'These programs are a lower priority than core functions maintained in the Budget such as surveys, charting, and fisheries management,' the administration explains.
Public broadcasting funding will eventually be brought down to zero, as well.
Some amount of public broadcasting money is 'necessary' for now 'for us to unwind our involvement with the CPB,' he sad.
'So you won't see a zero next to it. But the policy is that we're ending federal involvement with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.'
By next year the line item might be zero, he added. 'But it may take a while to unwind that relationship. It's just the nature of contracts and so forth.'
The CPB's funding is relatively minuscule compared to how much Trump is proposing to spend annually on other programs.
At $445.5 million, it's a fraction of discretionary spending and will barely help Trump achieve his wish list.
He also terminates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, closer to $300 million.
The Internal Revenue Service notably incurs the wrath of Trump, with a funding reduction of $239 million that accounts for almost half of the $519 million in cuts he wants to make to Treasury's budget.
HUD is slated for reductions, as well. Trump is requesting $40.7 billion from Congress for HUD discretionary funding, a $6.2 billion and 13.2 percent decrease from the current fiscal year.
At the Wednesday briefing Mulvaney contended that 'a lot' of the 'wasteful programs, duplicative programs, programs that simply don’t work' fall under that department's purview.
'We've spent a lot of money on Housing and Urban Development over the last decades without a lot to show for it,' the Cabinet official stated. 'Certainly there are some successes, but there's a lot of programs that simply cannot justify their existence, and that's where we zeroed in.'
Mulvaney said the Department of Transportation's discretionary spending budget is being reduced for the same reason. It's gross budget is being cut by $2.4 billion, or 13 percent.
Among the things funded by the Department of Transportation are Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, and subsidies for airports and interstates.
Trump's budget ends funding for Amtrak’s long distance trains 'which have long been inefficient and incur the vast majority of Amtrak’s operating losses' and refocuses the transportation provider on state-supported and Northeast Corridor train services.
The Department of Justice is getting $27.7 billion for the Department of Justice, $1.1 billion less than it spends currently, which amounts to a 3.8 percent decrease.
At the same time, Trump also wants DOJ to spend $249 million, or 3 percent, more on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and federal law enforcement activities within the FBI.
He also specifies that the agency should spend $9 million more annually than it does presently on background checks for firearms purchases and its data tracking of violent crime in certain cities and communities.
Trump additionally calls on DOJ to spend $175 million more than it does right now to 'target the worst of the worst criminal organizations and drug traffickers in order to address violent crime, gun-related deaths, and the opioid epidemic.'
At $445.5 million, it's a fraction of discretionary spending and will barely help Trump achieve his wish list.
He also terminates funding for the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities, closer to $300 million.
The Internal Revenue Service notably incurs the wrath of Trump, with a funding reduction of $239 million that accounts for almost half of the $519 million in cuts he wants to make to Treasury's budget.
HUD is slated for reductions, as well. Trump is requesting $40.7 billion from Congress for HUD discretionary funding, a $6.2 billion and 13.2 percent decrease from the current fiscal year.
At the Wednesday briefing Mulvaney contended that 'a lot' of the 'wasteful programs, duplicative programs, programs that simply don’t work' fall under that department's purview.
'We've spent a lot of money on Housing and Urban Development over the last decades without a lot to show for it,' the Cabinet official stated. 'Certainly there are some successes, but there's a lot of programs that simply cannot justify their existence, and that's where we zeroed in.'
Mulvaney said the Department of Transportation's discretionary spending budget is being reduced for the same reason. It's gross budget is being cut by $2.4 billion, or 13 percent.
Among the things funded by the Department of Transportation are Amtrak, the national passenger railroad, and subsidies for airports and interstates.
Trump's budget ends funding for Amtrak’s long distance trains 'which have long been inefficient and incur the vast majority of Amtrak’s operating losses' and refocuses the transportation provider on state-supported and Northeast Corridor train services.
The Department of Justice is getting $27.7 billion for the Department of Justice, $1.1 billion less than it spends currently, which amounts to a 3.8 percent decrease.
At the same time, Trump also wants DOJ to spend $249 million, or 3 percent, more on counterterrorism, counterintelligence and federal law enforcement activities within the FBI.
He also specifies that the agency should spend $9 million more annually than it does presently on background checks for firearms purchases and its data tracking of violent crime in certain cities and communities.
Trump additionally calls on DOJ to spend $175 million more than it does right now to 'target the worst of the worst criminal organizations and drug traffickers in order to address violent crime, gun-related deaths, and the opioid epidemic.'
