President Submits FY2018 Budget Request to Congress

President Trump released his FY2018 “America First” Budget Blueprint yesterday. This “skinny” budget provides only discretionary funding proposals; mandatory funding and tax proposals will be included in the full budget request submitted to Congress later this spring (likely May). The President’s $1.151T budget request includes a $54B increase to defense discretionary spending offset by $54B in cuts to nondefense discretionary programs.

The President’s budget request vs. budget caps:

  2018 Cap 2018 Proposed Change (Dollars) Change (%)
Defense $549B $603B +$54B +10%
Non-Defense $516B $462B -$54B -10%
Total 2018 $1,065B $1,065B —- —-
         
  2017 Cap 2017 Proposed Change (Dollars) Change (%)
Defense $551B $576B +$25B +5%
Non-Defense $519B $504B -$15B -3%
Border Wall

& Implement EOS

—- $3B +$3B N/A
Other Non-Defense Programs $519B $501B -$18B -3%
Total 2017 $1,070B $1,070B +$10B +1%
Defense OCO $65B $70B +$5B +8%
  • The Budget also proposes to eliminate funding for the following agencies:
    • African Development Foundation
    • Appalachian Regional Commission
    • Chemical Safety Board
    • Corporation for National and Community Service
    • Corporation for Public Broadcasting
    • Delta Regional Authority
    • Denali Commission
    • Institute of Museum and Library Services
    • Inter-American Foundation
    • S. Trade and Development Agency
    • Legal Services Corporation
    • National Endowment for the Arts
    • National Endowment for the Humanities
    • Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
    • Northern Border Regional Commission
    • Overseas Private Investment Corporation
    • United States Institute of Peace
    • United States Interagency Council on Homelessness
    • Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars

President Trump’s Management Agenda

  • Instituted hiring freeze on January 23, 2017
  • Signed “Comprehensive Plan for Reorganizing the Executive Branch” Executive Order on March 13, 2017
  • President’s Management Agenda Goals – by 2020 federal agencies are:
    • Managing programs and delivering critical services more effectively
    • Devoting a greater percentage of taxpayer dollars to mission achievement rather than compliance activities
    • More effective and efficient in supporting program outcomes
    • Being held accountable for improving performance

President Trump’s Regulatory Agenda

  • The President has already taken 3 steps to eliminate some regulations and the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs within OMB is working to ensure their implementation:
    • Issued a memorandum on January 20, 2017 ordering a regulatory freeze
    • Signed the “Reducing Regulation and Controlling Regulatory Costs” Executive Order on January 30, 2017
    • Signed the “Enforcing the Regulatory Reform Agenda” Executive Order on February 24, 2017

Federal Agencies

(in billions of dollars)

  2017 Enacted* 2018 Proposed Change (Dollars) Change (%)
Cabinet Departments        
Agriculture 22.6 17.9 -4.7 -20.7%
Commerce 9.2 7.8 -1.5 -15.7%
Defense 521.7 574.0 +52.3 +10.0%
Education 68.2 59.0 -9.2 -13.5%
Energy 29.7 28.0 -1.7 -5.6%
NNSA 12.5 13.9 +1.4 +11.3%
Other Energy 17.2 14.1 -3.1 -17.9%
HHS 77.7 65.1 -12.6 -16.2%
Homeland 41.3 44.1 +2.8 +6.8%
HUD 46.9 40.7 -6.2 -13.2%
Interior 13.2 11.6 -1.5 -11.7%
DOJ 28.8 27.7 -1.1 -3.8%
Labor 12.2 9.6 -2.5 -20.7%
State, USAID & Treasury Intl. Programs 38.0 27.1 -10.9 -28.7%
Transportation 18.6 16.2 -2.4 -12.7%
Treasury 11.7 11.2 -0.5 -4.4%
Veterans Affairs 74.5 78.9 +4.4 +5.9%
Major Agencies        
Corps of Engineers 6.0 5.0 -1.0 -16.3%
EPA 8.2 5.7 -2.6 -31.4%
GSA 0.3 0.5 +0.3 N/A
NASA 19.2 19.1 -0.2 -0.8%
SBA 0.9 0.8 (-less than $50M) -5.0%
SSA 9.3 9.3 (+less than $50M) +0.2%
Other Agencies 29.4 26.5 -2.9 -9.8%
OCO Funding        
Defense 65.0 64.6 -0.4 -0.6%
State & USAID 19.2 12.0 -7.2 -37.4%
Other Agencies 0.2 —- -0.2 -100.0%
Emergency Funding        
Transportation 1.0 —- -1.0 -100.0%
Corps of Engineers 1.0 —- -1.0 -100.0%
Other Agencies 0.7 —- -0.7 -100.0%
Program Integrity        
HHS 0.4 0.4 +0.1 +17.3%
SSA 1.2 1.5 +0.3 +26.8%
Disaster Relief        
Homeland Security & Other Agencies 6.7 7.4 +0.7 +9.7%
HUD 1.4 —- -1.4 -100%

*References to FY2017 spending below reflect the levels provided by the continuing resolution except for agencies/programs funded in the full year FY17 Military Construction-Veterans Affairs appropriations bill.

The President’s FY18 “America First” Budget Blueprint can be found at:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/whitehouse.gov/files/omb/budget/fy2018/2018_blueprint.pdf

Vantage Point Strategies’ more detailed summary can be found at:

https://www.vantagepointstrat.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Vantage-Point-Strategies-FY18-Budget-Request-Summary-3-16-17.pdf

 

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