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You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition - March 17, 2017
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This is the March 17, 2017, edition of an email sent from November 2016 to September 2017 that covered Donald Trump's presidential transition, cabinet appointees, and the different policy positions of those individuals who may have had an effect on the new administration. Previous editions of "You're Hired" can be found here.
On Thursday, the Trump administration released its budget proposal for 2018 covering discretionary spending. Presidential budget proposals typically leave mandatory spending programs, like Social Security and Medicare, untouched in the initial phases. To learn more about how the federal budget is put together, read Monday’s edition.
Today, we look at the four executive agencies whose budgets will be cut by more than 20 percent and the three agencies expected to receive an increase in funding. We will compare these spending priorities to Trump’s policy proposals on the campaign trail during the 2016 presidential election and look at how members of Congress have responded to the proposed changes.
Read more about federal policy on the budget.
Budget cuts
Environmental Protection Agency
EPA Administrator: Scott Pruitt
- The budget proposal seeks to reduce funding for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by 31 percent, including eliminating 3,200 jobs and more than 50 programs. Funding for the Office of Research and Development would be halved. Drinking and wastewater infrastructure, however, would continue to receive funding.
- On the campaign trail: When asked in October 2015 how he would address the budget deficit in an interview on Fox News, Trump said he would cut spending at the EPA. “What they do is a disgrace. Every week they come out with new regulations. They're making it impossible,” he said. Trump added, “We'll be fine with the environment. We can leave a little bit, but you can't destroy businesses.”
Department of State
Secretary of State: Rex Tillerson
- The budget proposal seeks to reduce funding for the Department of State and the United States Agency for International Development—the agency which administers foreign aid—by 29 percent. Funding for United Nations (UN) peacekeeping missions would be reduced. Payments for climate change programs, including those organized by the UN, would be eliminated.
- On the campaign trail: In October 2016, Trump criticized the amount of money pledged to the United Nations and other international funds to address climate change. “We’re going to put America first. That includes canceling billions in climate change spending for the United Nations ... and instead use that money to provide for American infrastructure including clean water, clean air and safety,” he said.
Department of Agriculture
Nominee for Secretary of Agriculture: Sonny Perdue
- The budget proposal seeks to reduce funding for the Department of Agriculture (USDA) by 21 percent. Programs that would have their funding eliminated include the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education program and the Water and Wastewater loan and grant program. Funding for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition assistance program would be decreased by $200 million. Staffing at regional USDA service center agencies would also be reduced. Farm-related research programs like the Agricultural Research Service would continue to receive funding.
- On the campaign trail: During the 2016 presidential campaign, Trump’s discussion of agriculture and food policy focused on the Renewable Fuel Standard and separating the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program from the Farm Bill.
Department of Labor
Nominee for Secretary of Labor: R. Alexander Acosta
- The budget proposal seeks to reduce funding for the Department of Labor by 21 percent. Some job training programs, including the Senior Community Service Employment Program and underperforming centers for the Job Corps, would be eliminated. The budget would also expand oversight of unemployment benefits to prevent improper payments.
- On the campaign trail: Trump addressed job training in the context of veterans on his presidential campaign website, where he said that he would “increase funding for job training and placement services (including incentives for companies hiring veterans).” In September 2016, he also proposed financing a maternity leave program for working mothers who do not receive leave from their employer by eliminating fraud in the unemployment insurance program.
Other agencies and initiatives
Under the budget proposal, the following 19 agencies would be defunded:
- African Development Foundation
- Appalachian Regional Commission
- Chemical Safety Board
- Corporation for National and Community Service
- Corporation for Public Broadcasting
- Delta Regional Authority
- Denali Commission
- Institute of Museum and Library Services
- Inter-American Foundation
- U.S. Trade and Development Agency
- Legal Services Corporation
- National Endowment for the Arts
- National Endowment for the Humanities
- Neighborhood Reinvestment Corporation
- Northern Border Regional Commission
- Overseas Private Investment Corporation
- U.S. Institute of Peace
- U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness
- Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars
Budget increases
Department of Veterans Affairs
Secretary of Veterans Affairs: David Shulkin
- The budget proposal seeks to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by 6 percent. Improving access to healthcare for veterans through the Veterans Choice Program and modernizing the benefits claim system would be priorities of the spending increase. Funding would also be used to fill some of the VA’s 45,000 vacant medical positions.
- On the campaign trail: Trump frequently discussed veterans affairs on the campaign trail, including healthcare services and suicide prevention programs for returning veterans. In October 2015, he proposed allowing veterans to receive care from any medical services provider that accepts Medicare using his or her identification card. He also called for increased job training and improved care for veterans suffering from PTSD and traumatic brain injuries.
Department of Homeland Security
Secretary of Homeland Security: John Kelly
- The budget proposal seeks to increase funding for the Department of Homeland Security by 7 percent. The bulk of this funding increase would be devoted to immigration-related initiatives, including the construction of a border wall between the U.S. and Mexico and the employment of 500 additional Border Patrol agents and 1,000 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents. Efforts to detain and remove immigrants residing in the U.S. illegally would be boosted by $1.5 billion. Some grant programs to state and local agencies, including pre-disaster mitigation grants and counterterrorism funding, however, would be cut by $667 million.
- On the campaign trail: The construction of a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border was a cornerstone of Trump’s immigration policy. In a speech on immigration in August 2016, Trump said that he would triple the number of ICE deportation officers and hire 5,000 more Border Patrol agents.
Department of Defense
Secretary of Defense: James Mattis
- The budget proposal seeks to increase funding for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) by 9 percent. The Army and Marine Corps would be enlarged and the number of ships and fighter jets increased, although the budget proposal did not specify by how much.
- On the campaign trail: In September 2016, Trump called for a surge in defense spending to increase the number of troops in the Army from 490,000 to 540,000, the number of Marine Corps battalions from 23 to 36, the number of surface ships and submarines from 276 to 350, and the number of fighter aircraft from 1,113 to 1,200.
Congressional response to the budget
Democrats
- Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (N.Y.) said that Democrats in Congress would “emphatically oppose” Trump’s budget cuts. “The very programs that most help the middle class are those that get clobbered the hardest: investments in infrastructure, education, scientific research that leads to cures for diseases all take big hits,” he said in a statement.
- House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (Calif.) criticized the budget’s focus on hard power. “The President’s budget blueprint fails to recognize America’s strength depends on more than military spending; it depends on the power of our diplomacy, the health of our economy and the vitality of our communities. This budget would devastate the innovation that drives our economy, the research that cures our diseases, the education that empowers our children, and the skills training programs that enable our workers to win the good-paying jobs of the modern economy,” she said.
- Rep. Nita Lowey (N.Y.), the ranking Democrat on the House Committee on Appropriations, said in a statement, “If enacted into law, these cuts would have a disastrous impact on job security; health; safe, clean, and secure communities; and American leadership around the world. I will closely examine the President’s request for supplemental appropriations for defense to determine whether the request would legitimately improve readiness and address areas of need.”
Republicans
- House Speaker Paul Ryan (Wis.) released the following statement, in part: “I welcome the president’s blueprint for next year’s budget, which turns the page from the last eight years. We are determined to work with the administration to shrink the size of government, grow our economy, secure our borders, and ensure our troops have the tools necessary to complete their missions.”
- In an interview on Fox Business Network this morning, Rep. Kevin Brady (Texas), the chair of the Committee on Ways and Means, said of the budget, “This is a skinny budget, but look at the approach it’s taking. It is like any business in America, which is if you’re digging your way out of a hole, first you have to limit your costs, as much as you can. You got to grow your revenue. So, I think these spending cuts get us halfway back to a balanced budget or more.”
- Rep. Hal Rogers (Ky.), the former chair of the House Committee on Appropriations, was critical of the budget and its potential impact on rural communities. “While we have a responsibility to reduce our federal deficit, I am disappointed that many of the reductions and eliminations proposed in the president’s skinny budget are draconian, careless and counterproductive. … We will certainly review this budget proposal, but Congress ultimately has the power of the purse,” he said in a statement.
See also
- You're Hired: Tracking the Trump Administration Transition
- Donald Trump presidential transition team
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