Trump Budget: More Money For Military, Less For EPA

WASHINGTON, DC — The White House announced Monday that its proposed budget blueprint boosts military spending by $54 billion, with most of the increase going directly to the Pentagon.

President Trump has referred to this as a "historic defense increase."

Other federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, will face budget cuts, according to multiple outlets including Bloomberg and the New York Times.

Some commentators pointed out that during a 2013 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee, Defense Secretary James Mattis, then a general, said, "If you don't fund the State Department fully, then I need to buy more ammunition ultimately. I think it's a cost-benefit ratio. The more that we put into the State Department's diplomacy, hopefully the less we have to put into a military budget."

Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, which collectively make up the majority of federal government spending, are not addressed by the budget blueprint, sometimes known as the "skinny budget," which covers discretionary spending but not entitlements. Trump has pledged to protect these programs from cut, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer said it a briefing Monday that the president will stick by his word.

Trump emphasized his priorities for the national budget in a meeting Monday with state governors, saying that the country will "do more with less." He pledged to give more authority to the states as part of an effort to make the government smaller and more accountable.

However, he also promised to give more funding to law enforcement agencies, first responders and veterans.

"This budget will be a public safety and national security budget," Trump said.

Trump also mentioned his plan to repeal Obamacare. "We have come up with a solution that’s really, really, I think very good,” he said. "It’s an unbelievably complex subject, nobody knew that health care could be so complicated.”

He did not provide any further details on his replacement plan.

The White House's full budget outline is expected to be sent out Monday afternoon. A budget maximum will be sent out to each federal department for review, and the directors will determine which cuts might be feasible to achieve the proposed spending levels.

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