On March 11, President Trump presented his budget request for fiscal year 2020 (FY20) to Congress, outlining his spending priorities for the coming year.
The FY20 budget request calls for $4.7 trillion to fund government operations in the next fiscal year. This would set funding at $543 billion in non-defense discretionary spending, down from $597 billion in FY19. In so doing, it cuts education, health, and child welfare funding. On the mandatory side of the ledger, the budget uses various policy proposals to effectively gut funding for housing and nutrition assistance, health programs, and income support. 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 United States.
This fact sheet will look in greater detail at policy proposals in the budget that impact the economic security of families with children. Because spending on income supports is mandatory, however, the resources dedicated to this area of the President’s budget are generally projections of what will be spent.