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Trump Budget Slashes Funding for EPA, Education, Housing & State Dept.

HeadlineMar 16, 2017

President Trump is set to send his proposed budget to Congress today. The budget calls for an unprecedented $54 billion increase in military spending, as well as a $2.8 billion increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security, largely to pay for Trump’s expanded border wall and the hiring of 1,500 new Border Patrol and ICE agents.

The budget slashes funding for the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent and funding for the State Department by 28 percent. It also proposes cutting billions in funding for the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Health and Human Services.

The Education Department would see $9 billion cut from its budget—even as so-called “school choice” programs would receive $1.4 billion more in funding. Trump’s education secretary, Betsy DeVos, has been a major backer of such programs, which include vouchers for private and religious schools that divert public funding out of the public school system.

Trump’s budget also proposes entirely eliminating funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which supports public radio and TV stations nationwide; the National Endowment for the Humanities; the National Endowment for the Arts; and the Legal Services Corporation, which funds free legal aid nationwide. The proposed budget is expected to face fierce opposition in Congress.

Meanwhile, on Wednesday, House Speaker Paul Ryan admitted the Republicans’ plan to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act will have to be changed if it’s to pass the House. The plan has been losing support since the Congressional Budget Office released a report Monday saying 24 million Americans would lose their insurance under the plan within 10 years.

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