Bulked-Up Defense, Slimmed-Down Domestic: Inside the FY 2027 Skinny Budget

On Friday, April 3, the Trump administration released the fiscal year (FY) 2027 president’s budget request in addition to the Appendix and Analytical Perspectives. The proposed budget (“Budget”) detailed in the Appendix would reduce nondefense base discretionary funding by $73 billion to $660 billion, a 10% decrease from enacted FY26 levels, and increase defense discretionary spending by $251 billion to $1.15 trillion, a 28% increase. Total discretionary funding is increased to $1.829 trillion from $1.735 trillion.

The Appendix expands on the Budget by providing detailed estimates for each Cabinet agency and other agencies funded through the federal appropriations process. For large agencies, information is generally broken down by major subagencies or bureaus or by major program area. For each of these groups, the Appendix includes suggested legislative language, information on obligations and other relevant budgetary figures and a narrative explanation for appropriations levels, among other elements. In combination with the individual explanatory materials released by each agency, this provides a more fulsome explanation of the topline spending levels proposed by the administration, in addition to outlining key policy changes the administration plans to pursue.

Additional Budget materials, including historical tables, are expected to be released at a later date. The General Explanations of the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2025 Revenue Proposals (“Green Book”) are also often accompanied by the presidential budget requests, though the Trump administration has not previously released them.

While the president’s Budget is nonbinding, it is an important messaging tool for the administration as appropriators draft FY27 funding bills.

The table below reflects the discretionary funding levels for Cabinet agencies. Total funding amounts for each agency account may differ slightly in the linked agency materials.

Note: figures are in billions, and agency-specific budget materials are linked where available. 

Outlook

The FY 2027 president’s budget request is released amid an unresolved FY26 appropriations process, with only the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) remaining unfunded for nearly 50 days. Following several weeks of stalled negotiations related to immigration enforcement provisions, Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) issued a joint statement earlier this week outlining a two-track strategy to fund DHS through both the appropriations process and budget reconciliation. Under the revised framework, House Republicans would pass the Senate bipartisan appropriations bill to fund DHS, except for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), while leveraging the budget reconciliation process to fund those two agencies without Democratic support. On April 2, the Senate approved this proposal through unanimous consent, which was subsequently rejected by House Republicans. Lawmakers remain in recess until April 13, and the timeline for House passage remains uncertain, including whether action will occur immediately upon the House’s return or be deferred until reconciliation efforts are underway.

Despite the FY2026 appropriations process remaining incomplete, the release of the Budget formally begins the FY27 appropriations process, albeit approximately two months later than the statutory deadline. The Budget will not become law in its current form—the House and Senate still must draft and pass their 12 appropriations bills, which will then need to be reconciled before being sent to the president’s desk.

All appropriations bills must originate in the House, and the Appropriations Committee has already scheduled all subcommittee and full committee markups beginning on April 17 through early June. The Senate has not yet released its markup schedule. With current government funding set to expire on Sept. 30, lawmakers have approximately six months to complete work on all 12 bills. Given competing legislative priorities and the possibility of another reconciliation package, Congress will likely need to rely on a continuing resolution to avert a funding lapse.

THIS DOCUMENT IS INTENDED TO PROVIDE YOU WITH GENERAL INFORMATION REGARDING THE ADMINISTRATION’S FY ’27 BUDGET. THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT ARE NOT INTENDED TO PROVIDE SPECIFIC LEGAL ADVICE. IF YOU HAVE ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CONTENTS OF THIS DOCUMENT OR IF YOU NEED LEGAL ADVICE AS TO AN ISSUE, PLEASE CONTACT THE ATTORNEYS LISTED OR YOUR REGULAR BROWNSTEIN HYATT FARBER SCHRECK, LLP ATTORNEY. THIS COMMUNICATION MAY BE CONSIDERED ADVERTISING IN SOME JURISDICTIONS.