President Trump Unveils FY 2027 Budget Request
On April 3, 2026, the White House released President Donald Trump's fiscal year (FY) 2027 budget proposal for the next federal fiscal year that begins on October 1, 2026. The president's budget request serves as a fiscal blueprint for the administration's policy priorities and signals to the U.S. Congress what the White House hopes to accomplish over the coming years. It also provides a detailed look at how the president's spending and revenue proposals will affect federal deficits and debt and includes the administration's assumptions about how those policies will affect economic growth, inflation and interest rates.
The FY 2027 budget requests $2.2 trillion for discretionary programs, a major increase in defense spending, along with cuts for domestic programs. President Trump is also asking Republicans on Capitol Hill to enact $350 billion of his $1.5 trillion in proposed defense spending using the reconciliation process, a procedure that requires only a simple majority of votes in the U.S. Senate and, thus, would not require Democratic votes if supported by most Republicans.
The proposal requests $660 billion for all nondefense agencies, a 10 percent funding cut over FY 2026 enacted levels, with several departments and agencies targeted with proposed cuts greater than 20 percent. Ultimately, Congress has the power of the purse and is free to accept all, some or none of a president's budget request.
Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought will testify before the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Budget on April 15, 2026, and Senate Committee on the Budget on April 16, 2026, in support of the request. Individual cabinet secretaries will also testify before the Senate and House congressional committees over the coming weeks. Afterward, the House and Senate Committees on Appropriations will begin to mark up the 12 individual FY 2027 appropriations bills with the ambitious goal of enacting the legislation prior to September 30, 2026.
This special edition of Eyes on Washington summarizes several of the major agency accounts of interest to local governments.
Information contained in this alert is for the general education and knowledge of our readers. It is not designed to be, and should not be used as, the sole source of information when analyzing and resolving a legal problem, and it should not be substituted for legal advice, which relies on a specific factual analysis. Moreover, the laws of each jurisdiction are different and are constantly changing. This information is not intended to create, and receipt of it does not constitute, an attorney-client relationship. If you have specific questions regarding a particular fact situation, we urge you to consult the authors of this publication, your Holland & Knight representative or other competent legal counsel.