The President delivered the overview of his FY20 budget to Congress this week. The budget justification details for each agency will be made available next week. The President requested $750B in defense funding with $174B of that from Overseas Contingency Operations (OCO) and $543B in nondefense funding with an additional $24B in OCO for nondefense emergency spending. Assuming the very rosy economic scenarios of a 3.2% growth rate this year that are included in the budget request (CBO projects a 2.3% growth rate), deficits will gradually decline but will not be eliminated for 15 years. And the budget request assumes much steeper cuts in later years.
Now that the President’s FY20 budget request has been delivered to Congress, the House and Senate can begin the budget resolution process. House Democrats may forgo a vote on a budget resolution this year rather than divide their caucus over whether to push for an increase or decrease in military spending. The Progressive Caucus members may vote against a budget resolution with an increase in defense spending. House Budget Committee John Yarmuth (D-KY) said that if his committee marks up a budget resolution, then he expects it to go to the House floor for a vote. On the Senate side, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Mike Enzi (R-WY) said he has not received a commitment that the FY20 budget resolution he is writing will go to the Senate floor for a vote. Enzi is expected to write the Senate budget resolution to the stator caps proposed in the President’s budget request.
In the event that the House and Senate don’t pass FY20 budget resolutions, House and Senate leadership are discussing potentially agreeing on spending limits to allow the FY20 appropriations process to go forward. Senate Republicans will be under pressure from the White House to increase the overall defense spending while holding nondefense to the budgetary cap. Senate Appropriators may use FY19 toplines for defense and nondefense programs as a fallback for FY20 if an agreement isn’t reached before they begin consideration of their 12 annual spending bills.
The FY19 enacted levels for defense and nondefense spending (including OCO) were $716B and $620.6B, respectively.
| FY20 (cap) | FY20 President | FY21 (cap) | |
| Defense | $630.0B | $576.0B | $644.0B |
| OCO Defense | $174.0B | ||
| Non-Defense | $578.0B | $590.0B | |
| OCO Nondefense |
Agriculture
The 2020 Budget requests $20.8 billion for USDA, a $3.6 billion or 15-percent decrease from the 2019 estimate (including changes in mandatory programs and receipts).
Commerce
The Budget requests $12.2 billion for DOC, a $1.0 billion or a 9.3-percent increase from the 2019 estimate.
Defense
The Budget requests $718 billion for DOD, a $33 billion or 5-percent increase from the 2019 enacted level.
Education
The Budget requests $62.0 billion for the Department of Education, an $8.5 billion or 12.0-percent decrease compared to the 2019 enacted level (including cancellations of Pell Grant unobligated balances). Excluding cancellations, the Budget requests a program level of $64.0 billion for the Department of Education, a $7.1 billion or 10.0-percent decrease compared to the 2019 enacted level.
Energy
The 2020 Budget requests $31.7 billion for DOE, an 11-percent decrease from the 2019 enacted level.
Health and Human Services
The 2020 Budget requests $87.1 billion for HHS, a 12-percent decrease from the 2019 estimated level. The Budget proposes $1,248.8 billion in net mandatory health savings, reducing longer-term deficits.
Homeland Security
The 2020 Budget requests $51.7 billion in discretionary appropriations for DHS, a $3.7 billion or 7.8-percent increase from the 2019 estimate (excluding 2019 amounts for Overseas Contingency Operations).
Housing and Urban Development
The Budget requests $44.1 billion in gross discretionary funding for HUD, an $8.7 billion or 16.4-percent decrease from the 2019 estimate.
Interior
The Budget requests $12.5 billion for DOI, a $2 billion or 14-percent decrease from the 2019 estimate (including 2019 changes in mandatory programs).
Justice
The Budget requests $29.2 billion for the Department of Justice, a $698 million or 2-percent decrease from the 2019 estimate. The Budget targets funding increases to support public safety and national security while reducing or eliminating lower priority spending.
Labor
The Budget requests $10.9 billion for DOL, a $1.2 billion or 9.7-percent decrease from the 2019 enacted level.
State
The Budget requests $40.0 billion for the Department of State and USAID, a $12.3 billion or 23-percent decrease from the 2019 estimate. The Budget also requests $1.6 billion for Department of the Treasury international programs, approximately equal to the 2019 estimate.
Transportation
The Budget requests $21.4 billion in discretionary budget authority for 2020, a $5.9 billion or 22-percent decrease from the 2019 discretionary estimate. The Budget also provides $62.2 billion in mandatory funds and obligation limitations.
Treasury
The Budget also proposes a program integrity initiative to narrow the gap between taxes owed and taxes paid that is estimated to reduce the deficit by $33 billion over 10 years.
Veterans Affairs
The Budget requests $93.1 billion for VA, a $6.5 billion or 7.5-percent increase from the 2019 enacted level. In addition, the Budget requests $87.6 billion in advance appropriations for VA medical care programs in 2021 to ensure the Department has sufficient resources to continue providing the premier services that veterans have earned. The request also includes new legislative authorities and $123.1 billion in mandatory budget authority, including $129.5 billion in 2021 advance appropriations for other critical veteran and survivor benefits.
NASA
The Budget requests $21 billion for NASA, a $283 million or 1.4-percent increase from the 2019 estimate.