Federal Government Policy and Business

Why Trump's Budget Cuts Are Even More Severe Than Advertised

Government Executive: This week, the Trump administration will roll out its plan to cut $54 billion from domestic federal agencies in fiscal 2018.

The figure represents a reduction from spending levels under the current continuing resolution and within the framework of the most recent budget deal reached in 2015. When examining the cuts in a broader context, however, the scaling back of funding for federal agencies is much more severe.

The 2011 Budget Control Act instituted strict spending caps for both defense and non-defense agencies. In fiscal years 2014 through 2017, lawmakers agreed to raise those caps via two different budget agreements. In fiscal 2018, Congress has reached no such deal, so the original caps are set to be reinstated. That means, statutorily, domestic agencies would see their cumulative topline funding reduced by $3 billion in the next fiscal year, from about $519 billion to $516 billion.

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