On May 23rd, President Trump presented his budget request for fiscal year 2018 (FY18) to Congress, outlining his spending priorities for the coming year.
The FY18 budget request calls for $4.1 trillion to fund government operations in the next fiscal year, setting funding would at $69 billion in discretionary budget authority, down from $84.1 billion in FY17. This includes slashing funding for the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) by 16 percent. If implemented, the cuts proposed in this budget would be devastating to low-income families with children who are struggling to make ends meet and would result in an increase of child poverty in the U.S.
This fact sheet looks in greater detail at policy proposals in the budget that impact the economic security of families with children. Because spending for income support programs is mandatory, however, the resources dedicated to this area of the President’s budget are generally projections of what will be spent. Where there are notable policy changes for particular programs, those proposals are noted.