The White House released its 2027 fiscal year budget, sending the request to Congress for approval for about $1.5 trillion in defense spending as the war in the Middle East continues.
If enacted by lawmakers on Capitol Hill, it would be the largest level of military spending in history and be about a 40% increase from what the Pentagon spent in this fiscal year.
The administration is justifying the high cost by cutting about $73 billion in domestic spending, including in health, housing, agriculture and education programs.
The White House said in a fact sheet that the 10% budget cut to nondefense spending will still provide support for veterans, seniors, law enforcement and “other critical priorities for the Federal government.” The savings will come from scaling back federal spending in “woke, weaponized, and wasteful programs” and giving the responsibility for some of the funding back to state and local governments.
Defense spending
The budget request for the Pentagon is intended to reinvest in the country’s military power, including from “defense industrial capacity to the readiness and health of the force.”
The White House said the additional funding would ensure that the U.S. maintains its position as the “world’s most powerful” military by investing in new programs, including securing a U.S. Golden Dome for attack intervention.
The request comes after President Donald Trump urged Congress to approve a new defense budget of more than $1.1 trillion. The administration notes that the new budget would build upon previous funding to protect “key priorities” for the military.
The 2027 fiscal year budget includes $1.1 trillion in “base discretionary budget authority” specifically for the Defense Department as well as a $350 billion request in “additional mandatory resources” for needs critical to the administration such as “increasing access to critical munitions and further expansion of the defense industrial base.”
Spending related to immigration
The White House laid out several key priorities in the new budget that include some of Trump’s key agenda items like immigration. The administration said the budget request reflects Trump’s “continued commitment” in driving down crime stemming from immigrants and foreign drug cartels and gangs.
The request is for $40.8 billion in discretionary budget authority for the Department of Justice, which is a $4.7 billion — or 13% — increase from the 2026 fiscal year budget. The new investment will go toward law enforcement to “maximize (the) DOJ’s capacity to bring violent criminals to justice.”
Additionally, the budget is requesting funding received as part of the Working Families Tax Cut in 2025 that appropriated more than $190 billion in authority to implement some of Trump’s priorities, including construction of the border wall along the country’s southern border, interior immigration enforcement, securing advanced border security technology, modernizing the Coast Guard’s fleet and facilities, and to “enhance (the) United States Secret Service protective operations.”
It also will allow states to prepare ahead of “special events” like the 2026 FIFA World Cup and the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement will remain the same as it did in the 2026 fiscal year at $10 billion, and includes $2.2 billion to “maintain 41,500 immigration detention beds.”
“This funding will help U.S. Customs and Border Protection and ICE secure the homeland, facilitate lawful trade and travel, and implement the Administration’s mass deportation initiative,” the White House said.
Big picture
Other areas of interest for the administration to be funded in 2027 include enhancing U.S. maritime and energy dominance, mineral production and strengthening nuclear security. It also includes funding for veterans; making Washington, D.C., “beautiful, clean and safe”; combating fraud; and giving states funds for apprenticeship programs. The government also wants to upgrade air traffic control systems, support artificial intelligence research, and address drug abuse and mental health.
If lawmakers move Trump’s full budget forward, it could add trillions of dollars to the federal debt over the next 10 years.
As the war with Iran continues in the Middle East, Trump and other White House officials reportedly have been pitching the urgency of ramping up U.S. military spending, even if it comes at the expense of other domestic programs.
During a speech Wednesday, Trump recounted a conversation he had with Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought.
“I said to Russell, ‘Don’t send any money for day care,’ because the United States can’t take care of day care. We’re a big country. We have 50 states. We have all these other people,” he said, adding, “We’re fighting wars. We can’t take care of day care.”
“It’s not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all these individual things, they can do it on a state basis. You can’t do it on a federal,” Trump said. “We have to take care of one thing: military protection. We have to guard the country. But all these little things, all these little scams that have taken place — you have to let states take care of them, Russell.”
Medicaid, a health program for low income Americans, is administered at the state level, but Medicare, a health program for older Americans, is a federal program.
However, Trump could face some pushback about increasing military spending.
Republicans and Democrats have expressed concern about increasing defense spending as the administration has been providing limited information about Iran war updates. They also haven’t been entirely supportive of some of Trump’s proposed cuts to agencies that serve millions of Americans, rejecting a spending package for this fiscal year that had large reductions in some programs, The New York Times reported.
In a letter sent to Congress with the budget proposal, Vought said the administration entered the White House during a “financial catastrophe” left by the Biden administration.
“Now that our fiscal ship has turned to face in the right direction, I look forward to working with you to continue moving forward. Together, we will achieve significant budgetary savings for the American people while implementing the President’s bold vision.”
With Trump and Vought’s submission, lawmakers will now review the proposal and either keep or amend some of the items.