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: