President Trump this week released his much-anticipated
2018 budget proposal, three months later than expected in the federal budget process. The president’s annual budget proposal does not have the effect of law, but is frequently used by allies on Capitol Hill to fight for programs (or cuts to programs) that the president believes are a priority.
A high-level view of the budget shows that, should Congress enact Trump’s proposal, spending would increase to $4.1 trillion in 2018 while the deficit would rise from $585 billion last year to $603 billion. Generally, the budget would make cuts to social-welfare programs and nearly every federal agency while increasing funding for defense-related programs, including $52 billion for the Department of Defense (a 10 percent increase).
The president’s proposal would cut EPA funding by 31.4 percent, but creates a new line item for “expand[ed] use of pesticide licensing fees,” which would cost the government five million dollars in 2018, and ramp down that spending to one million dollars in 2025. The White House has yet to detail what those fees are or how they would be used.
At the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the budget proposal would cut the topline budget by $137 billion, or 20 percent, and would cut Farm Bill programs by $267 million in 2018 and nearly $3.4 billion in 2019. The Agricultural Research Service, which house’s the Aerial Application Technology Research Unit (AATRU), would lose $360 million (or 26 percent). Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue stated “There is no sugar-coating what we will face. USDA will likely see a significant reduction in funding by the time this process is complete.” NAAA will work to ensure, however, that the AATRU is not part of any potential cuts to the Department of Agriculture.
Trump’s budget also provides over $14 billion per year, beginning in 2021, “to shift the air traffic control function of the Federal Aviation Administration to an independent, non-governmental organization, making the system more efficient and innovative while maintaining safety,” according to the
budget blueprint.
With the president’s budget released, Congress will now start to formulate the federal budget. When asked about the president’s budget proposal, Senator John Cornyn, the number two Senate Republican, said “Almost every budget I know of is basically dead on arrival…[but] it's an expression of his priorities, which is important in terms of the conversation between the branches [of government].”