US Budget proposal – 2018.

          It’s been a little over a month ago since the U.S. Office of Management and Budget released a proposed blueprint for the 2018 budget . Comparing to the 2017 budget , largest cuts (in terms of the funding amount) would affect Health and Human Services, Agency for International Development (USAID), Education, Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) *, and Agriculture departments. Departments of Defense, Veteran Affairs, and Homeland Security will be the largest beneficiaries of the new plan, all receiving a substantial boost in funding. To make this plan a reality, the Congress will have to approve this proposal next month, something that would be quite a hard sell based on the current reception of the budget.

* Excluding HUD receipts – a placeholder and subject to change as detailed estimates under the Administration’s economic and technical assumptions for the full Budget are finalized.

          The only department appearing on the top 5 list in terms of YoY % decrease, in addition to absolute amount cuts is USAID, dropping 29%. The other “losers” include: the Labor department and Department of Agriculture (both losing 21% of their prior year budget dollars), and Army Corps of Engineers (17% drop.) The biggest cut is sustained by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) shedding 31% of its funding, including the climate change research project.

          The opposite side of the scales includes General Services Administration, Department of Defense (10% increase), Homeland Security (7% surge), Veteran Affairs (6% jump comparing to last year), and unchanged Social Security Administration. It looks like there is a definitely an attempt to fund the effort to make America stronger through investments in military and security operations. At the same time, the “softer” initiatives: foreign aid and environment see their funding slashed.

         

Budget 2018 proposal, (excluding Defense department.)

          Below is the summary of the 2018 US budget draft: make sure to click on the ‘Full Screen’ icon for better experience.