Trump's budget proposal sparks debate on steep cuts

U.S. President Donald Trump's budget proposal has triggered a stiff debate both in the country and in the global arena, as the Pentagon is set to become a major winner while the State Department and federal programs are in line for steep reductions.

Trump proposed scrapping dozens of agencies and programs, from public broadcasting to bioscience, to pay for $52 billion in new military spending.

He described the plan as "a budget that puts America first" - one that would help the military "win" and "set free" the dreams of Americans.   

"This is a hard-power budget, it is not a soft-power budget," said White House budget chief Mick Mulvaney, who said he trawled through Trump's campaign speeches for inspiration, as quoted by Agence France-Presse on March 16. 

"The president said, specifically, hundreds of times - you covered him - 'I'm going to spend less money on people overseas and more money on people back home' and that's exactly what we're doing with this budget," he told reporters.

In a federal budget proposal with many losers, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and State Department stand out as targets for the biggest spending reductions. Funding would disappear altogether for 19 independent bodies that count on federal money for public broadcasting, the arts and regional issues from Alaska to Appalachia. 

Trump asked Congress to slash the EPA by $2.6 billion or more than 31 percent, and the State Department by more than 28 percent or $10.9 billion.

Mulvaney said the "core functions" of those agencies would be preserved. Hit hard would be foreign aid, grants to multilateral development agencies like the World Bank and climate change programs at the United Nations.

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