Trump proposes $1.5T defense budget

President Donald Trump on Friday proposed a 2027 budget featuring a sharp shift toward military spending, marking a roughly 40% increase over current Pentagon spending.

To offset the surge, the White House proposes about $73 billion in domestic cuts, including reductions in funding for disaster relief, teacher training, tax enforcement, disease research, and clean energy. 

The plan also includes $10 billion for immigration enforcement, over $40 billion for the Justice Department, $30 million for an anti-fraud drive led by Vice President JD Vance, and $152 million to reopen Alcatraz prison. It also includes a 5%–7% pay raise for troops deployed overseas.

The plan would cut nonmilitary spending by $73 billion, about 10%.

The largest cuts would affect the Small Business Administration (down 67%) and the Environmental Protection Agency (down 52%).

Apart from downsizing FEMA, the proposal would reduce NASA funding by 23%, shift $15 billion from clean energy to fossil fuels and AI, cut HHS by 12.5%, and eliminate NIH programs.

The plan also suggests scaling back the Education Department and reducing funding for minority-serving colleges, such as HBCUs.

Economic pressure builds
The proposal comes as Americans face rising gas prices and economic pressure linked to the ongoing war. It now heads to Congress, where past disagreements triggered a record-long government shutdown.

Despite earlier promises to reduce spending, the federal deficit continues to grow. The total budget reaches nearly $2.2 trillion. Experts warn the plan could add $5 trillion to $6 trillion to the national debt over a decade, which already stands near $39 trillion.

Lawmakers from both parties have raised concerns, especially about cuts affecting low-income families and essential services.