ToplinePresident Donald Trump asked Congress on Friday for $1.5 trillion for the Pentagon in fiscal year 2027—roughly a 40% increase from the agency’s already record-high 2026 spending plan—that would be offset by steep cuts to the Small Business Administration, Energy, and Health and Human Services Department, among others. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth speaks during a press briefing at the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on March 31, 2026. (Photo by Oliver Contreras / AFP via Getty Images)AFP via Getty ImagesKey FactsTrump’s defense budget request would, in part, pay for 18 new ships for the Navy’s battle force, 16 non-battle force ships and five Army and Coast Guard vessels, and mentions priorities such as the Golden Dome missile defense system and “increased access to critical munitions and further expansion of the defense industrial base.”The Small Business Administration would be cut by 67%, or $671 million in total, in part by eliminating programs that provided resources “based on race and gender” and reducing SBA staffing costs by $170 million, among other measures, according to the proposal. The Environmental Protection Agency budget would be slashed by 52% and continue “the full elimination of the EPA’s radical diversity, equity, and inclusion programs,” in addition to reducing subsidies for state water infrastructure programs and ending grants for “radical climate research,” among other measures.The Commerce Department budget would be reduced by 12%, or $1.3 billion, including eliminating the Minority Business Development Agency, but Trump wants $110 million more for trade enforcement and “the U.S. Investment Accelerator,” which seeks to “fast-track” the creation of American jobs, particularly in manufacturing and the defense industrial base. Proposing a 13% decrease in Health and Human Services spending, the Trump administration wants to end the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program, which helps low-income Americans with their energy bills, eliminate Community Services Block Grants, which it claims is a “duplicative slush fund for woke Community Action Agencies” and shrink the Refugee Resettlement Program.Among the HHS cuts, The National Institutes of Health—long a target of Trump and his allies—faces a $5 billion reduction, according to the proposal, which criticizes former National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases chief Dr. Anthony Fauci for commissioning research that contradicts the highly divisive “lab-leak theory” that the COVID-19 virus originated in a lab in Wuhan, China, a hypothesis the Trump administration has adopted as fact, despite a lack of direct evidence. With a 26% drop in Department of Labor spending, the budget reiterates the Trump administration’s push to shut down the longtime Job Corps career-training centers for low-income youth after a federal judge blocked Trump’s attempt to pause operations at the approximately 120 contractor-run Job Corps centers nationwide.Which Other Agencies Would See Budget Increases?The Department of Justice would see a $4.7 billion, or 13% increase, including $99 million for enforcing immigration laws and $30 million for the “newly established National Fraud Division,” as the Trump administration has targeted Democrat-led cities and states to identify fraudulent uses of federal social services dollars. In addition to the Justice Department and Pentagon, Energy, Transportation and Veterans Affairs would also receive more funding this year.Does The Budget Mention Cuts To Medicaid And Medicare?No, but Trump made clear during a private lunch Wednesday at the White House that defense spending was a priority—above the longtime popular social services programs. “We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care . . . it’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things,” he said, adding “they can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal.” House Republicans are also considering health care cuts to pay for the Iran war, Axios reported this week, citing Republican leaders, including Rep. Steve Scalise, R-La., who suggested the offset could come from health care reductions in “areas of fraud and waste and abuse.”Chief Critic “I think the American people, as they’ve done with the One Big Ugly Bill, will furiously react to any effort to continue to cut health care or cut nutritional assistance in order to actually fund Donald Trump’s reckless war of choice,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, R-N.Y., told MS Now on Wednesday.TangentThe budget proposes $52 million in savings to the Department of Homeland Security budget by beginning “the privatization of TSA’s airport screeners.” Small airports would be required to employ private screeners, paid for by TSA through TSA’s Screening Partnership Program. Twenty U.S. airports, including San Francisco International and Kansas City International, already employ contractors to handle security screening at checkpoints through the program. Key BackgroundThe massive increase in defense spending would be offset by $73 billion in cuts to “woke, weaponized, and wasteful programs,” and shifting some financial responsibility to state and local governments, according to a White House fact sheet. The request, subject to congressional approval, comes weeks after reports the Pentagon was expected to ask Congress for $200 billion to pay for the Iran war. The White House has yet to formally request the cash influx, and lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have expressed serious reservations about approving it. Further ReadingWhite House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense in New Budget Request (New York Times)Trump’s Budget Proposal Calls for $1.5 Trillion in Defense Spending (The Wall Street Journal)Trump budget seeks $1.5T in defense spending alongside cuts in domestic programs (Associated Press)