Trump proposes cuts of $163 billion in new budget, seeks sharp increase in defense

President Trump is asking for eye-popping cuts of $163 billion in federal spending in his fiscal 2026 budget proposal, one of the largest budget-cut requests by a president in modern U.S. history.

The budget proposal, released Friday, seeks steep cuts to hundreds of programs at federal agencies, which the administration has blasted as promoting “woke” gender and racial ideologies that it says “poisons” the minds of Americans. 

Among the agencies that could see deep cuts are the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Interior Department, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the National Institutes of Health, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

For example, Mr. Trump has proposed nearly $40 billion in cuts to the State Department, saying the programs on the chopping block do not align with the administration’s priorities.

The cuts would amount to a 22% reduction in discretionary spending, compared to the federal government’s current spending levels. The total federal budget has risen to roughly $7 trillion annually, with deficits approaching $2 trillion.

In a letter to Congress accompanying the budget blueprint, Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought said the proposed cuts are the result of a “rigorous, line-by-line review” of fiscal year 2025 spending. The fiscal 2026 budget year begins Oct. 1.

Mr. Vought wrote that the current budget is “laden with the spending contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans and tilted toward funding the niche non-governmental organizations and institutions of higher education committed to radical genders and climate ideologies antithetical to the American way of life.”