|
President Trump formally submitted his budget blueprint for fiscal year 2018 to Congress today. Essentially, it aims to put “America first” by boosting military spending $52 billion while making significant cuts to a variety of other agencies and programs to pay for it. For example, the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget would be slashed by nearly one third, and a slew of smaller agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts, would be eliminated.
Daniel Wirls, a military policy expert at the University of California, Santa Cruz, argues Trump's defense buildup is based on several misleading claims and lacks an underlying strategic vision.
Read on for more analysis of the budget and White House priorities from our stable of experts.
|
Trump wants to build more aircraft carriers but doesn’t have a strategy yet for how to use them.
David Josek/AP Photo
Daniel Wirls, University of California, Santa Cruz
Trump's first budget proposal would boost defense spending by $52 billion, but his desired military buildup is premised on misleading claims and lacks a strategic vision.
|
Spending priorities
|
-
Roy T. Meyers, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
A former analyst at the Congressional Budget Office explains why Trump’s excessively skinny budget proposal doesn’t stand a chance in Congress.
-
Simon Reich, Rutgers University Newark ; Peter Dombrowski, US Naval War College
Does the president's specified goal of 350 ships meet the needs of the nation in the 21st century? The answer is not yet clear.
|
|
Environment + Energy
|
-
Joshua D. Rhodes, University of Texas at Austin
Trump has pledged to invest big in infrastructure. An analysis shows the electric grid will need hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade just to keep things as they are.
-
Walter Rosenbaum, University of Florida
The EPA’s budget could get slashed by 31 percent. A Republican majority and muted public support mean weakened environmental enforcement is all but certain.
-
David Titley, Pennsylvania State University
President Trump's 2018 budget request cuts funding for NASA Earth observation research and cancels four missions. Weather forecasters, businesses, scientists and the armed forces rely on this data.
-
Linda J. Bilmes, Harvard University; John Loomis, Colorado State University
A new study estimates that Americans would pay $92 billion yearly in extra taxes to protect national parks. The finding underlines calls from experts for more money to preserve and maintain the parks.
|
|
Arts + Culture
|
-
Aaron D. Knochel, Pennsylvania State University
Trump's budget would eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts. This isn't the first attempt by an administration to kill the NEA, but this time, the ideological justifications don't pass muster.
-
Robert Ekelund, Auburn University
The NEA's budget is essential to the operation of museums across the country. Ending it would be devastating.
|
|
