President Donald Trump on Friday unveiled a 2027 budget proposal that would raise defense spending to $1.5 trillion while cutting non-defense programs by about 10%. The 92-page plan, submitted roughly five weeks into the conflict between the U.S., Israel and Iran, would boost military spending by more than 40% in a single year — the largest year-over-year increase since World War II — and aims to offset the rise by trimming domestic spending it calls “woke, weaponized and wasteful.”
While presidential budgets are nonbinding and Congress will draft the final appropriations, the proposal signals administration priorities. Major defense investments include funding for a Golden Dome missile defense shield, a push to secure critical minerals for defense industries, and $65.8 billion to build 34 new combat and support ships. The Justice Department would see a requested 13% increase, intended to expand its capacity to prosecute violent crime.
The plan seeks continued high spending on homeland security and immigration enforcement, asking for $2.2 billion to support U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement operations, funding for 41,500 detention beds and 30,000 family unit beds. Other specific requests include $481 million to bolster aviation safety and hire more air traffic controllers, and $152 million to reopen Alcatraz as an active prison — a signature, controversial proposal from the president.
Cuts are concentrated across several federal agencies. The Agriculture Department would face a roughly 19% reduction, the Department of Health and Human Services about a 12.5% cut, and the Environmental Protection Agency an estimated 52% decrease. The budget would remove more than $15 billion from the Biden-era bipartisan infrastructure law, including money for renewable energy projects, and would reduce funding for programs the administration labels “woke,” including certain environmental justice initiatives.
The proposal also targets specific programs and agencies: it would cut $106 million from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, alleging it “pushed radical gender ideology onto children,” seek elimination of nearly 30 Justice Department programs described as “weaponized” against Americans, trim the National Endowment for Democracy by $315 million, and ask for a roughly 23% reduction to NASA — including a $3.6 billion cut to the agency’s science division.
Reaction was immediate and sharply divided. Democrats criticized the plan as out of touch with domestic needs; Senator Jeff Merkley, the top Democrat on the Budget Committee, called it “an out-of-touch plea for more money for guns and bombs, and less for the things people need, like housing, health care, education, roads, scientific research, and environmental protection.” Some Republicans welcomed the larger defense envelope, saying it would help move U.S. defense spending closer to 5% of GDP and keep the military technologically advanced. Senate Armed Services Chairman Roger Wicker and House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers praised the proposal as a clear signal to allies and partners.
The proposal marks a stark reordering of federal priorities that will face intense scrutiny and negotiation in Congress before any of these changes could take effect.