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The White House sent a letter today to Congress that laid out President Trump’s proposals for government spending in the next fiscal year. The blueprint called for $163 billion in cuts that would eliminate a vast set of climate, education, health and housing programs, and whittle down domestic spending to its lowest level in the modern era.
Trump’s plan, which administration officials called a “joint project” with the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, would formalize his campaign to drastically remake the federal government. The proposal depicted many core government functions as woke, weaponized, wasteful or radical. Democrats immediately rebuked it, and even some big-name Republicans took issue. Others, like Speaker Mike Johnson, endorsed the plan.
Sometimes, presidential budget recommendations are not all that important, our economics reporter Tony Romm told me. Congress controls spending, and it can simply ignore the proposal. “But Trump’s budget this year carries extra significance,” Tony said. Republicans are eager to cut spending to offset a package of tax cuts — a draft of which they hope to release soon.
Tony added: Trump has adopted the contentious view that he has expansive power to dictate spending even if Congress instructs otherwise — “meaning some of the ideas here may foreshadow big changes to come.”
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