The US president’s administration released a budget outline that proposes deep cuts to federal spending and the elimination of a range of government programmes.
Donald Trump’s budget blueprint clearly shows budget priorities. In particular, it is proposed to significantly raise funding for defence, border control and immigration services.
The increase in spending for these sectors comes at the expense of a wide range of cultural, environmental and healthcare programmes and initiatives dealing with democracy promotion and humanitarian assistance. In particular, funding for the National Institutes of Health, educational programmes, environmental grants and other projects will be drastically reduced.
The budget outline proposes to eliminate funding for environmental projects, such as the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Chesapeake Bay cleanup programme. Trump is going to discontinue funding for the Clean Power Plan proposed by the Environmental Protection Agency in 2014. International global warming programmes, climate change research and all related programmes and projects will lose federal funding, too.
As expected, Trump proposes to end the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities that were founded in 1965. The agencies provide vital support to artists and the arts. Donald Trump is the first president who has raised a question on eliminating them. It is also planned to eliminate funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting that backs 1,136 public radio stations and 362 public television stations.
Of course, Trump doesn’t care about ordinary people, especially the poor, and takes measures to cut spending for city transportation and anti-poverty programmes. In particular, funding will be eliminated for the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness that struggles to prevent and end homelessness, especially among veterans, youth and poor families. All funding will be cut for the Legal Services Corporation that provides legal assistance to poor people and helps all people get access to justice regardless of their income.
Other federal agencies that will face funding elimination are: the African Development Foundation, the Chemical Safety Board, the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, the United States Institute of Peace, the Institute of Museum and Library Services and others.
Trump is going to eliminate funding for the Inter-American Foundation that provides assistance to poor communities in Latin America and the Caribbean, funds programmes in the sectors of agriculture modernisation, professional training, access to water, basic utilities and adequate housing. The US Trade and Development Agency may also disappear under Trump. The organisation exports the country’s goods to emerging countries helping them develop energy, telecommunication and transportation infrastructure.
The budget proposal needs to pass the Congress, but taking into account the radically changed approach to government funding and the Republican majority, many of the proposed measures are likely to be included in the final budget.
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