The budget supports the Trump administration's immigration enforcement and deportation operations by eliminating refugee resettlement aid, maintaining Immigration and Customs Enforcement funds at current year levels, and drawing on last year's increases for the Department of Homeland Security to continue opening detention facilities, including 100,000 beds for adults and 30,000 for families. It also includes a 13% increase in funding for the Department of Justice to focus on violent criminals and the president's promise to stop what it calls migrant crime.
Non-defense programs face a 10% reduction by shifting some responsibilities to state and local governments. The budget cancels more than $15 billion from the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law, including funds for renewable energy projects, and cuts funds to what the Trump administration calls 'woke' environmental justice programs and to the National Oceans and Atmospheric Association grants on climate change.
President Trump promised to reinvest in America’s national security infrastructure, to make sure our nation is safe in a dangerous world.
Additional cuts include a 19% reduction in the Department of Agriculture, ending certain university grants, and a 13% cut for the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Increases are proposed for other areas, including a $481 million boost to enhance aviation safety and support an air traffic controller hiring surge, and a $10 billion fund within the National Park Service for 'construction and beautification' projects in Washington, D.C.
The president's annual budget is considered a reflection of the administration’s values and does not carry the force of law. This year’s White House document is intended to provide a road map from the president to Congress as lawmakers build their own budgets and annual appropriations bills to keep the government funded.
Congressional dynamics are already in play, with Budget Director Russell Vought speaking to House GOP lawmakers on a private call Thursday, but Congress is free to reject the president's budget and often does.