Jun 10 Trump Administration Releases More Details on FY26 Budget Proposal

Jun 10h in Bold Voices by

(June 10, 2025)

At the end of May, the President released more details on his “skinny” budget proposal. This proposal is simply that, an outline of where the Trump Administration would like to see Congress fund specific programs during the budget and appropriations process. Unfortunately, the budget details do not invest in evidence-based government funded programs, but instead propose significant cuts and eliminations that, if enacted by Congress, would negatively impact children, families, and schools.

This proposal comes at a time that Congress is debating the budget resolution bill, which currently includes devastating cuts in mandatory programs including Medicaid and SNAP, while providing significant tax breaks for wealthy individuals. The budget resolution – H.R. 1, “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act” – would significantly increase the federal deficit by $2.4 trillion over the next ten years while stripping away health care, food assistance benefits, and tax credits from millions of low income Americans. It is to be determined if Congress has enough votes and if the Senate Parliamentarian will permit the bill to move forward in its current state.

It can be confusing to have two spending bills occurring simultaneously in Congress, so to summarize: There is a budget resolution, “One Big, Beautiful Act,” currently actively advancing and being debated in Congress and that makes significant cuts to Medicaid and SNAP.. Separately, appropriations bills for FY2026 that have been introduced on the heels of the President’s “skinny” budget proposal.

Specific Details on the President’s Budget Proposal

Education

Newly released details on the President’s budget proposal include many items related to education. Overall, the budget proposal calls for a $12 billion (15%) reduction in current allocations. The proposal includes level funding for Title I of Every Student Succeeds Act, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), and Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. While it looks like IDEA received an increase, the AASA: The Superintendent’s Association, highlights that due to cuts in other special education dollars, the increase proposed equals out to be level funding. The Administration did propose an increase in charter school funding, which aligns to their vision of growing opportunities for school choice.

Additionally, the budget proposes to “consolidate most currently funded formula and competitive grant programs for elementary and secondary education into a single State formula grant program.” The allocation for this consolidation is $2 billion, an overall reduction of $4 billion when you total all the consolidated programs at their current funding levels. Programs not consolidated and listed specifically for elimination include Title I, Part C, Title III, Teacher and School Leader Incentive Grants, Supporting Effective Educator Development Grants (SEED), and Full-Service Community Schools.

WIC and other Health and Human Services Programs

Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits are on the table to be significantly reduced in the President’s budget. The budget proposal includes slashing funding that supports families purchasing fruit and vegetables through the Cash Value Benefit program. The budget proposal also includes reducing overall WIC funding by $300 million.

According to the Center for Budget and Policy Priorities this cut would reduce benefits by 62-75% for participants and equate to:

  • Reduced monthly benefits for toddlers and preschoolers from $16 to $10
  • Reduced monthly benefits for pregnant and postpartum participants from $34 to $13
  • Reduced monthly benefits for breastfeeding participants from $39 to $13.

Specifically in Pennsylvania, it is estimated that 141,000 participants would be impacted and over $36 million would be eliminated for the fruit and vegetable program.

Other key highlights in the President’s budget proposal include:

  • Consolidating 28 operating divisions of Health and Human Services (HHS) into 15 and reducing overall workforce
  • Establishing the Administration for a Healthy America by restructuring HHS and multiple agencies including the CDC and Mental Health Services Administration
  • Establishing the Make America Healthy Again agenda which funds programs that address chronic disease, research into environmental toxins, and food safety
  • $12 billion for Head Start, but includes a set of reforms saying specifically: “These reforms aim to increase parental choice, enhance and prioritize efficiency, promote parental engagement, and improve health, education, and employment outcomes. ACFC will also work with grantees to better manage funds, remove DEI, and reduce improper payments to increase financial accountability for the program.”
  • $1.3 billion for Children and Family programs including those related to child welfare, child abuse, Promoting Safe and Stable Families

Jamie Baxter, Allies for Children Executive Director