A budget built for one side of the ledger

The Trump administration on Friday unveiled a sweeping spending blueprint that would sharply expand military funding while trimming domestic programs, even as the president says the United States is close to meeting its goals in the monthlong war against Iran. The budget outline appears to be separate from a supplemental request that is still expected to cover costs tied directly to the Middle East campaign.

The White House is counting on Congress to approve a $1.15 trillion base defense budget through the annual appropriations process. That would be the first time the base Pentagon budget has crossed the $1 trillion mark. On top of that, the administration wants to use the reconciliation process for another $350 billion, a strategy that looks bolder on paper than it probably does in a House and Senate where Republicans have only narrow majorities. Vastly expanding defense spending while cutting domestic accounts is the kind of move that can become a midterm problem fast, especially if voters decide the party in power owns the costs of the Iran war, military or otherwise.

The White House called the plan “historic” and framed it as a major bet on military hard power. It highlighted Trump’s Golden Dome missile defense shield and a planned Trump-class battleship as part of the Navy’s so-called “Golden Fleet.”

The administration also said the request, totaling $1.5 trillion, exceeds the Reagan-era defense buildup and is comparable to U.S. spending increases before World War II. In the White House’s telling, that is apparently what it takes to “recognize the current global threat environment and restore the readiness and lethality of our forces.”

Where the money would go

A large chunk of the proposed increase would flow to the Navy. The budget calls for $66 billion for shipbuilding to purchase 34 warships and support vessels. Trump is also proposing a tiered military pay raise that would reach 7 percent for the most junior enlisted service members. Another slice of the request would go toward expanding production of advanced missiles and air defense systems, because if Washington is going to spend this much, it would at least like something loud and expensive to show for it.

The domestic cuts arrive right on cue

While the military side of the budget gets the grand treatment, the nondefense side is being asked to tighten its belt by 10 percent. The White House is proposing to cut $73 billion from federal programs outside the Pentagon.

Among the biggest targets are environmental programs spread across multiple agencies. The plan would eliminate $15 billion in grants tied to efforts such as renewable energy technology, and it would cut $4 billion in transportation funding for programs that help build infrastructure for electric vehicle charging.

The administration has also been talking more aggressively about fraud in tax incentives and in safety net programs like Medicare, and the budget reflects that mood by proposing a National Fraud Division to help the Justice Department address what the White House described as a “rampant and pervasive problem.”

The cuts do not stop there. The administration is recommending:

  • Eliminating $1.6 billion in research programs run by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
  • Finding $45 million in savings by cutting the Interior Department’s renewable energy programs
  • Cutting $642 million from what the White House called “woke and wasteful international financial institutions” in the Treasury Department budget

The blueprint, prepared by White House budget director Russ Vought, would also eliminate current fair housing initiatives at the Department of Housing and Urban Development. It would end funding for the Community Development Financial Institutions Fund, which supports community banks and other lenders that serve neighborhoods traditionally overlooked by the banking industry.

In addition, the plan calls on Congress to zero out money for the Commerce Department office that supports minority-owned businesses and for the National Endowment for Democracy, which works to promote freedom in countries governed by authoritarian regimes that pose a threat to U.S. interests.

Late again, because of course it is

This is the second year in a row that Trump’s fiscal framework has arrived months behind schedule. Last year, Republican lawmakers were still pressing Vought for key details well into the summer, which is a very Washington way to manage a budget that is supposed to shape everything else.