The proposal, released by Office of Management and
Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought, was viewed by Democratic lawmakers and
other critics as a clear statement of the White House's intent to gut programs
that working class Americans rely on while pursuing another round of tax breaks
for the ultra-wealthy and bolstering the Pentagon, a morass of waste and
abuse.
"President Trump has made his priorities clear as
day," said Sen. Patty Murray, vice chair of the Senate Appropriations
Committee. "He wants to outright defund programs that help working
Americans while he shovels massive tax breaks at billionaires like himself and
raises taxes on middle-class Americans with his reckless tariffs."
"This president believes we should shred at least US$163
billion in investments here at home that make all the difference for families
and have been essential to America's success—but that we should hand
billionaires and the biggest corporations trillions in new tax
breaks," Murray added. "That is outrageous—and it should offend every
hardworking American who wants their tax dollars to help them live a good life,
not pad the pockets of billionaires."
According to the OMB summary, Trump's Fiscal Year 2026
budget would cut over US$4.5 billion from Title I and K-12 education programs, US$4
billion from a program that provides heating assistance to low-income
households, US$2.4 billion from safe drinking water funding, US$26 billion from
rental assistance programs, US$17 billion from the National Institutes of
Health, US$100 million from environmental justice programs, US$1.3 billion from
the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), and US$4.6 billion
from the Labor Department.
"President Trump is again betraying the millions of
Americans who believed him when he promised to lower costs," Tony Carrk,
executive director of Accountable.US, said in a statement. "This time,
he's taking aim at anyone who attends a public school, relies on rental
assistance to keep a roof over their heads, or accesses healthcare through
Medicaid or Medicare."
"Instead of standing up for everyday Americans,"
said Carrk, "Trump is prioritizing his own wallet and the tax benefits of
his wealthy donors—leaving local communities and small towns to bear the brunt
of his cuts."
Bobby Kogan, senior director of federal budget policy at the
Center for American Progress, noted that the cuts to social programs
in the White House's budget proposal "are extreme by any standard, but
they're extreme even by Trump's own standards," far exceeding even what he
proposed during his first term.
"The cuts in this budget are especially
egregious," said Kogan, "when you consider that Trump is also trying
to push the largest Medicaid and food assistance cuts in American history
through Congress over the next few months."
Meanwhile, the US military would see a $113 billion budget
increase compared to current levels if the Republican-controlled Congress were
to enact Trump's proposal.
The 13% increase would push the nation's annual military
budget above US$1 trillion, which analysts have described as the
highest level since the Second World War.
"The Pentagon is bloated, wasteful, and has NEVER
passed an audit," the progressive watchdog group Public Citizen wrote in
response to Trump's budget. "What a disgrace."
