Trump was expected to release a budget proposal outlining $163 billion in spending cuts that mirrored recommendations from Elon Musk and DOGE.
Elon Musk calls to delete entire US government agencies
Elon Musk called for entire agencies to be deleted from the federal government as part of the push under President Trump to radically cut spending and restructure its priorities.
Fox – Seattle
- The proposed cuts span an array of programs for the environment, education, foreign aid and health care.
- Congressional debate over spending levels could last until the end of the year.
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump plans to unveil a budget blueprint with $163 billion in spending cuts that mirror the reductions he’s made from firing federal workers and dismantling U.S. government agencies, according to The Washington Post and Wall Street Journal.
The proposed cuts span an array of programs for the environment, education, foreign aid and health care, the newspapers reported. Trump’s billionaire adviser Elon Musk and the so-called Department of Government Efficiency have already targeted many of those programs, which the budget aims to make permanent, the newspapers reported.
But the May 2 proposal comes after courts have blocked many of those cuts. Even Republican lawmakers who lead Congress have begun voicing concerns about cutting some of the rejected programs.
The budget lays out Trump’s priorities rather than setting spending figures in stone for the next fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Congress will determine spending levels – which Trump so far has treated as ceilings rather than requirements – during debates that could last until the end of the year.
Lawmakers will be debating tax cuts at the same time, which will complicate all the discussions. Trump has proposed extending tax cuts from his first administration, which would otherwise expire at the end of the year, and a slew of new proposals costing trillions more dollars such as no longer taxing Social Security benefits or tips on service jobs.
Here’s what to know about Trump’s budget blueprint:
Trump wants cuts to programs he’s already ordered dismantled
The agencies facing proposed reductions include the Environmental Protection Agency, the Energy Department, the Department of Education, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services, the newspapers reported.
Trump’s administration has already moved to dismantle agencies such as the U.S. Agency for International Development, the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the Department of Education. Trump has also fired tens of thousands of probationary workers or staffers at agencies such as Health and Human Services.
But judges have temporarily blocked some of those moves, ruling they were arbitrary or not carried out correctly. Trump is appealing many of those decisions and voicing confidence his decisions will be upheld at the Supreme Court.
Republicans have begun questioning Trump’s spending priorities
Trump’s fellow Republicans who control Congress largely remained silent over his layoffs and dismantling agencies. But even GOP representatives have begun to voice concerns as they get to work on the details and trying to turn the president’s efforts into law.
“Look, no president – and administrations – don’t get to dictate what’s going to happen here. Congress is not the Army,” Rep. Tom Cole, R-Oklahoma, who heads the House Appropriations Committee, told reporters May 1. “The president is the president, but not the Commander in Chief of Congress.”
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, who heads the Senate Appropriations Committee, said the country’s leadership in biomedical innovation would be threatened by Trump’s proposed cap on reimbursement for research overhead. National Institutes of Health grants and contracts support 1,468 jobs and $286 million in economic activity in her state alone.
Trump said this week that he would propose a military budget of more than $1 trillion. Tariffs on imports from nearly every country will help boost revenues and offset his plans to cut taxes, he said.
The Senate deadlocked April 30 and failed to approve a resolution seeking to halt Trump’s tariffs as the Commerce Department reported the economy shrank during the first three months of the year. Three Republicans − Collins and Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Rand Paul of Kentucky − sided with Democrats on the measure.
The House narrowly approved a spending blueprint that aims to find $1.5 trillion in spending cuts before Trump released his proposal, despite the defections of two Republicans who joined Democrats in opposing the plan. Reps. Victoria Spartz, R-Indiana, and Thomas Massie, R-Kentucky, argued the resolution didn’t cut spending enough.
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