White House asks for record-breaking $1.5 trillion for defense in new budget request
The White House, in its budget request for the 2027 fiscal year, is asking Congress to approve roughly $1.5 trillion for defense -- a record-breaking military spending request as the U.S. remains in its fifth week of war with Iran.
That is a $445 billion, or a 42% increase from the 2026 total level, according to the White House. Non-defense spending would be then be reduced by $73 billion, or 10%, according to the budget released by the White House on Friday.
Major targets of the proposed spending cuts are environmental programs across many federal agencies, including canceling more than $15 billion in Department of Energy grants related to clean energy.
The White House budget also continues the Department of Education's "path to elimination," proposes cuts to agriculture spending by 19% and proposes slashing the Internal Revenue Service's budget by $1.4 billion.
"The 2027 Budget builds on the President’s vision by continuing to constrain non-defense spending and reform the Federal Government," Office of Budget and Management Director Russ Vought wrote in the request to Congress.
President Donald Trump's budget request, which is largely a wishlist sent to Congress in order to signal the administration's priorities, lists "reducing violent crime and protecting national security" along with "protecting the homeland and removing dangerous illegal aliens" as the other two spending priorities for the upcoming year.
The budget proposes more than $19 billion for federal law enforcement -- a 15% increase from 2026. The budget maintains "critical funding" for Immigration and Customs Enforcement next year, equal to the 2026 level, including $2.2 billion to maintain 41,500 immigration detention beds.
The White House said that an investment in defense and Department of Homeland Security would be, in part, achieved through budget reconciliation.
The reconciliation process comes with a key advantage of not being subject to a filibuster. This means legislation can be passed with a simple majority vote in the Senate and that Republicans wouldn't necessarily need Democratic support, signaling an attempt from the White House to avoid Democratic demands for non-defense increases.
"Reconciliation funding in 2027 will enable DHS to fully implement the President’s immigration enforcement initiatives, finish construction of the border wall on the Southwest border, procure advanced border security technology, and continue the largest recapitalization investment in the history of the U.S. Coast Guard,” according to the White House.
Currently, DHS funding is caught in gridlock on Capitol Hill, resulting in the longest partial government shutdown in history.
