Trump budget proposal aims to cut $163 billion, mirroring DOGE plan

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WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump unveiled a budget blueprint with $163 billion in spending cuts to non-military programs that mirror the reductions he’s made from firing federal workers and dismantling U.S. government agencies.

The proposed cuts for the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1 would represent a 22.6% reduction from current spending and span an array of programs dealing with the environment, education, foreign aid and health care. Trump's billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency have already targeted many of those programs, which the budget aims to make permanent even as the world's richest man plans to step back from his administration efforts.

But the May 2 proposal comes after courts have blocked many of those cuts. Even Republican lawmakers who lead Congress have begun voicing concerns about cutting some of the rejected programs.

More: What to know as Congress starts working on Donald Trump's 'big beautiful bill'

The Defense Department's budget would increase $119 billion to top $1 trillion, with the goals of strengthening security, deterring aggression from China and revitalizing the U.S. industrial base. The Department of Homeland Security would receive an additional $43.8 billion to secure the border as part of a multi-year commitment of $175 billion, under the Trump budget plan.

Overall, the budget lays out $1.7 trillion for Trump’s discretionary priorities, which includes the 10% drop to $1.45 trillion for non-defense programs from the amounts approved this year. But the figures are proposals rather than set in stone for the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Congress will determine spending levels – which Trump so far has treated as ceilings rather than requirements – during debates that could last until the end of the year.

Lawmakers will be debating tax cuts at the same time, which will complicate all the discussions. Trump has proposed extending tax cuts from his first administration, which would otherwise expire at the end of the year, and a slew of new proposals costing trillions more dollars such as no longer taxing Social Security benefits or tips on service jobs.

Here's what to know about Trump's budget blueprint:

Trump wants cuts to programs he's already ordered dismantled

The agencies facing proposed reductions include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Trump's administration has already moved to dismantle agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the Department of Education. Trump has also fired tens of thousands of probationary workers or staffers at agencies such as Health and Human Services.

But judges have temporarily blocked some of those moves, ruling they were arbitrary or not carried out correctly. Trump is appealing many of those decisions and voicing confidence his decisions will be upheld at the Supreme Court.

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Spending cuts sparked protests before budget release

Protests against Trump policies erupted nationwide May 1. Organizers accused the administration of prioritizing profits for billionaires and called for investing working families by fully funding healthcare, housing and public schools.

"It's a clear split screen between the priorities of the Trump administration and what regular people want and need," said Lisa Gilbert, co-president of Public Citizen, a consumer rights advocacy group and a co-organizer of the Washington rally.

Bobby Kogan, senior director of budget policy at the left-leaning think tank Center for American Progress, said the proposed budget is “far more extreme” than cuts proposed during Trump’s first term.

“It is impossible to achieve cuts that large without obliterating core government functions,” Kogan said.

Republicans have begun questioning Trump's spending priorities

Trump's fellow Republicans who control Congress largely remained silent over his layoffs and dismantling agencies. But even GOP representatives have begun to voice concerns as they get to work on the details and trying to turn the president's efforts into law.

“Look, no president - and administrations - don’t get to dictate what’s going to happen here. Congress is not the Army," Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters May 1. "The president is the president, but not the Commander in Chief of Congress.”

More: Lawmakers warn Trump he can't 'pick and choose' what to spend from funding bill

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said she has "serious objections" to how defense spending is handled. She has also suggested the country's leadership in biomedical innovation would be threatened by Trump's proposed cap on reimbursement for research overhead. She disagreed with Trump eliminating a $4 billion program that subsidizes heating oil for low-income families.

"Ultimately, it is Congress that holds the power of the purse," Collins said in a statement.

Trump said he would propose a military budget of more than $1 trillion, but through a parliamentary maneuver that defense supporters said would be a one-time infusion of funding that leaves the Defense Department losing funding compared to inflation. Tariffs on imports from nearly every country will help boost revenues and offset his plans to cut taxes, he said.

The Senate deadlocked April 30 and failed to approve a resolution seeking to halt Trump's tariffs as the Commerce Department reported the economy shrank during the first three months of the year. Three Republicans − Collins and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky − sided with Democrats on the measure.

The House narrowly approved a spending blueprint that aims to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts before Trump released his proposal, despite the defections of two Republicans who joined Democrats in opposing the plan. Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, argued the resolution didn't cut spending enough.

Here are some of the specific changes by agency:

Defense Department

The head of the Armed Services Committee, Sen. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., criticized the budget over its approach to Defense spending.

Trump proposed to add $119 billion under a process called reconciliation, a parliamentary maneuver that allows the Senate to approve it with a straight majority rather than needing a 60% majority as with most contentious legislation. Administration officials said that was the best strategy for durable defense spending.

But Collins and Wicker said the administration is requesting the same $892.6 billion that it received in the current year, which would be a cut when considering inflation. The boost Trump is proposing would be a one-time supplement rather than a permanent boost in spending.

“OMB is not requesting a trillion-dollar budget,” Wicker said. “This budget would decrease President Trump’s military options and his negotiating leverage.”

Department of Homeland Security

The $43.8 billion increase for the Department of Homeland Security will fund Trump’s mass deportation program, contribute to construction of a wall along the Southern U.S. border and enhance security technology, according to the budget.

Another goal is to boost security for hosting special events such as the 2026 World Cup that concludes in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Education Department

Trump signed an executive order in March to abolish the Department of Education but some of its programs are required to continue by statute.

His budget would continue to dismantle the department while preserving funding for special education and Title I for schools with low-income families through block grants to the states, according to administration officials.

Trump's plan would cut $4.5 billion while consolidating 18 competitive grant programs into a $2 billion block grant program. The cuts included $335 million for a preschool development program and $80 million for teacher grants that administration officials said were targeted for critical race theory, according to administration officials.

Foreign aid

Trump already dismantled much of the U.S. Agency for International Development, whose remaining parts will become part of the State Department.

As part of that move, Trump would cut $49 billion in foreign aid, including previous allocations that have not yet been spent, according to administration officials.

Funds that would continue include the America First Opportunity Fund, which funds programs in India and Jordan, and would receive $2.9 billion; and the Development Finance Corp., which provides loans to boost American security and would receive $2.8 billion, according to the budget.

Department of Health and Human Services

Health and Human Services would suffer $33 billion in cuts, or a 26% decrease from current spending levels, after administration complaints about the response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The National Institutes of Health would lose nearly $18 billion after the budget accused it of “wasteful spending, misleading information, risky research, and the promotion of dangerous ideologies that undermine public health.” The agency would still have $27 billion for research.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would lose $3.6 billion. The budget eliminates agency programs it called duplicative or unnecessary such as the National Center for Chronic Diseases Prevention and Health Promotion, the National Center for Environmental Health, the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, the Global Health Center, Public Health Preparedness and Response and the Preventive Health and Human Services Block Grant.

(This story has been updated with more information.)