Impact of White House Budget Changes on Federal Programs

On May 3, the White House sent a letter to Senator Susan Collins, chair of the Appropriations Committee. It was written by Russell T. Vought, director of the Office of Management and Budget. The letter accompanied 40 pages of “major discretionary funding changes.” He provided Senator Collins the Trump budget recommendation. This action was taken before their plan to release the information. It will be included in the White House’s fiscal 2026 budget proposal.

I’ve read through the 40 pages of budget proposal changes. These include modifications for every cabinet-level department and agency of the Federal Government. This link will bring you to the letter and the 40-page budget report.

Here is what you should expect.

• The decimation of scientific research and innovation.
• The elimination involves removing several higher education programs. These programs are committed to or related to “radical” gender and “climate ideologies.” These ideologies are viewed as antithetical to the American way of life.
• Vought claims that a hell of a lot of spending is contrary to the needs of ordinary working Americans. Thus, he suggests reducing funding for nearly every program and department in the Federal government.

Some Data

Overall Budget

Look at this data to get an idea of how Trump will change the federal budget. For the first time in history, the defense department will get more than a trillion dollars. Non-defense departments like the National Science Foundation, EPA, and NASA will get a much smaller part of taxpayer dollars.

Table 1. Base Discretionary Budget for Defense Appropriations Compared to Non-Defense Appropriations.

The National Science Foundation

Trump will radically change the National Science Foundation’s budget for fiscal year 2026. I altered the chart shown below. It now includes the allocation recommended by the White House for the nation’s premier science agency. This agency supports university researchers in all science, mathematics, and science education fields. In 2025, NSF’s budget was $8.8 billion. Trump is slashing the NSF budget for 2026 to $3.9 billion, which means the NSF budget will be slashed by 55.8%. In the days ahead, I will continue to examine the effect of Trump’s budget proposals on other departments. I will also assess its impact on people’s lives.

Figure 2. Trends in NSF Budget, 1995-2026 in Billions of Constant 2024 dollars.

The Trump 2026 budget is based on ideological biases. It targets radical, leftist priorities. These include climate change, diversity, equity, and inclusion. It also includes LGBTQ activities around the world. If you download the “letter” and accompanying budget pages, you will be able to read their dogmatic and right-wing biases.