US Senate News:
Source: United States Senator for Washington State Patty Murray
Murray: “This is a proposal to raise costs and make life harder—and worse—for working people in every part of the country.”
Washington, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Vice Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, issued the following statement on President Trump’s fiscal year 2026 preliminary budget request, which proposes slashing critical investments in non-defense programs that matter immensely to families and our country’s competitiveness and future.
The Trump administration says this proposal will cut domestic funding by $163 billion (-23%); however, the real cut may be far worse—potentially exceeding a 30%, or more than $200 billion, cut to non-defense discretionary (NDD) spending. This preliminary request is very light on details. It fails to delineate funding levels for thousands of key programs, including programs like Head Start, which Trump reportedly wants to eliminate—and it is critical that this administration promptly provide its full budget request.
“President Trump has made his priorities clear as day: he wants to outright defund programs that help working Americans while he shovels massive tax breaks at billionaires like himself and raises taxes on middle-class Americans with his reckless tariffs.
“This budget proposal would set our country back decades by decimating investments to help families afford the basics, to keep communities safe, and to ensure America remains the world leader in innovation and lifesaving research. Donald Trump wants to slash funding for research into treatments and cures for cancer and other devastating diseases that have saved millions of patients’ lives, and he wants to kick hundreds of thousands of Americans out of their homes. He’s proposing to divest from America’s small businesses, ax funding for families to afford their energy bills, and rip resources away from students and teachers. Trump wants to rip away funding to safeguard Americans’ health, protect our environment, and to help rural communities and our farmers thrive. This president wants to turn our country’s back on Tribes—and let trash pile up at our national parks. Trump is even proposing to cut investments to prevent violent crime, go after drug traffickers, and tackle the opioids and mental health crises.
“This is a proposal to raise costs and make life harder—and worse—for working people in every part of the country, and it is a proposal to fundamentally make America less safe, healthy, and strong. China’s President Xi Jinping is no doubt thrilled at Trump’s proposal to halve our investments in scientific and biomedical research—and abandon America’s global leadership role.
“This president believes we should shred at least $163 billion in investments here at home that make all the difference for families and have been essential to America’s success—but that we should hand billionaires and the biggest corporations trillions in new tax breaks. That is outrageous—and it should offend every hardworking American who wants their tax dollars to help them live a good life, not pad the pockets of billionaires.
“This preliminary budget proposal is exceptionally light on details we desperately need—but this much is clear: Trump wants to eviscerate programs that matter most to working families.
“I will work with my colleagues in Congress to firmly reject Trump’s draconian proposal to slash investments in families and America’s future. But that alone is not enough because, at this very moment, Trump is brazenly ignoring our laws and blocking hundreds of billions of dollars owed to the American people—and we need Republicans in Congress to finally join us to force Trump to put an end to his devastating funding freeze.”
More specifics on President Trump’s budget request will be available HERE later today.