Trump budget boosts defense spending amid major cuts

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK (AA) - President Donald Trump's budget cuts will adversely impact many federal agencies while boosting spending for defense, according to his $1.1 trillion fiscal 2018 budget outline sent to Congress Thursday.

It increases defense spending nearly 10 percent -- $54 billion -- but slashes the State Department funding by 28 percent and the Environmental Protection Agency by 31 percent.

"The president wrote a budget for the nation, and we wrote a budget based upon his campaign promises, and that's what you see in the budget," White House budget director Mick Mulvaney said.

"We took his words and turned them into numbers. The president promised a wall. He's going to deliver it," he told reporters.

The budget includes an expenditure of $1.5 billion this year, and $2.6 billion next year for the wall Trump promised to build on the U.S.-Mexican border.

It also wants increase spending for Department of Homeland Security 7.3 percent, or $3 billion, to identify and deport illegal immigrants.

Other federal agencies negatively affected from budget cuts are the Department of Agriculture, which will see a reduction of 29 percent, and Health and Human Services, facing a 23 percent cut.

Housing and Urban Development is expected to have a 15.5 percent reduction in spending, while Education Department and Energy Department will have 13.6 percent and 5.4 percent cuts in their respective budgets.

On the other hand, Transportation Department and Veterans Affairs will have their spending to increase 13.3 percent and 10.2 percent, respectively.

Trump's budget proposals are not only expected to face resistance from the Democrats, but also from moderate Republicans who do not want to see cuts in State Department or Health and Human Services.