White House to release budget proposing record military spending surge

The White House is set to release President Donald Trumps 2027 budget Friday a sweeping blueprint that could boost Pentagon spending to USD15 trillion the largest of its kind in decades as the US focuses on military investments rather than other domestic programsEven before the USled war against Iran the Republican president had indicated he wanted to bolster defense spending to modernize the military for 21stcentury threats Separately the Pentagon last month proposed USD200 billion for the war effort and to backfill munitions and suppliesTrump speaking ahead of an address to the nation this week about the Iran war signaled the military is his priority setting up a clash ahead in CongressWere fighting wars We cant take care of day care Trump said at a private White House event WednesdayIts not possible for us to take care of day care Medicaid Medicare all these individual things he said They can do it on a state basis You cant do it on a federalThe presidents annual budget more broadly is considered a reflection of the administrations values and does not carry the force of law The massive document typically highlights an administrations priorities but Congress which handles federal spending issues is free to reject it and often doesWith the nation running nearly USD2 trillion annual deficits and the debt swelling past USD39 trillion the federal balance sheets have long been operating in the redAbout twothirds of the nations estimated USD7 trillion in annual spending covers the Medicare and Medicaid health care programs as well as Social Security income which are essentially growing along with an aging population on autopilotThe rest of the annual budget has typically been more evenly split between defense and domestic accounts nearly USD1 trillion each which is where much of the debate in Congress takes placeThe GOPs big tax breaks bill that Trump signed into law last year boosted his priorities beyond the budget process with at least USD150 billion for the Pentagon over the next several years and USD170 billion for Trumps immigration and deportation operations at the Department of Homeland SecurityThis years White House document prepared by Budget Director Russ Vought is intended to provide a road map from the president to Congress as lawmakers build their own budgets and annual appropriations bills to keep the government funded Vought spoke to House GOP lawmakers on a private call ThursdayCongress still fighting over 2026 spendingThe presidents budget arrives as the House and Senate remain tangled over currentyear spending and stalemated over DHS funding with Democrats demanding changes to Trumps immigration enforcement regime that Republicans are unwilling to acceptTrump announced Thursday he would sign an executive order to pay all DHS workers who have gone without paychecks during the recordlong partial government shutdown that has reached 49 days The Republican leadership in Congress reached an agreement this week on a path forward to fund the department but lawmakers are away on spring break and have not yet voted on any new legislationLast year in the presidents first budget since returning to the White House Trump sought to fulfill his promise to vastly reduce the size and scope of the federal government reflecting the efforts of billionaire Elon Musks Department of Government EfficiencyAs DOGE slashed through federal offices and Vought sought to claw back funds Congress did not always agreeFor example Trump sought a roughly onefifth decrease in nondefense spending for the current budget year ending Sept 30 but Congress kept such spending relatively flatSome of the programs that Trump tried to eliminate entirely such as assisting families with their energy costs got a slight uptick in funding Others got flat funding such as the Community Development Block Grants that states and local communities use to fund an array of projects intended mostly to help lowincome communities through new parks sewer systems and affordable housingLawmakers have also focused on ensuring the administration spends federal dollars as directed by Congress This years spending bills contained what Sen Patty Murray the ranking Democratic member of the Senate Appropriations Committee described as hundreds upon hundreds of specific funding levels and directives that the administration is required to followThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever