President Trump is breaking out the shears.
On Friday, the White House proposed pruning $163B from Uncle Sam’s 2026 budget by slashing spending on healthcare, education, housing, environmental programs, foreign aid, and medical research, including 40%+ cuts to the National Institutes of Health and CDC. Not everything would shrink—border security spending would jump 65%, and defense spending would get a temporary one-year 13% boost.
The proposal faces an uphill battle in Congress, which ultimately sets the budget. Democrats call cuts too extreme, while key Republicans say defense spending needs a sustained increase.
Meanwhile, Trump signed an executive order attempting to halt federal funding for NPR and PBS, accusing them of partisan bias and calling government-funded news “outdated and unnecessary.” The Corporation for Public Broadcasting has sued, arguing only Congress can control the networks’ funding.
