6 Of The Most Surprising Cuts And Proposals In Trump's Budget, Including Cancer Research Funding Cuts

President Donald Trump released his $4.1 trillion budget plan Tuesday, a bundle of requests titled “A New Foundation for American Greatness.” Within the plan were $3.6 trillion in federal spending cuts spanning the next decade in a multitude of federal areas.

While it’s unclear if any of the proposals outlined in the administration’s plan will go into effect, Tuesday’s budget was the first step in setting spending levels for the federal government, formally outlining the strategies the administration hoped to employ in the coming years.

Some of the most major and surprising cuts and requests are listed below.

1. Medicaid cuts: Trump’s budget, operating on the assumption that the Republican health care bill would officially pass, proposed slashing funding for Medicaid by 47 percent. The government’s health program for the poor would be out $800 billion over the next ten years.
2. Privatization of air traffic control: Trump's plan proposed creating a non-government entity tasked with managing air traffic for the entire nation. The outline said that privatizing the nation's air traffic program would reduce aviation passenger taxes and create a more efficient airspace.
3. Cuts to the national food stamp program: The Supplemental Nutritional Assistance Program, colloquially known as the food stamp program, aimed at assisting the hungry throughout the nation, would be cut by $200 billion. Food stamps are paid for entirely through federal funding, so such slashing the budget for the program by 25 percent would be significant.
4. Call for higher road tolls: The plan would ease current rules that restrict tolling on interstate highways. It would instead transfer power to the states, allowing them to “assess their transportation needs” to determine whether tolls are necessary and for what amount. The budget also said it would support a switch to the privatization of construction, operation and maintenance of rest areas throughout the United States.
5. Cuts to disability benefits: The budget would cut funding for federal disability insurance provided through Social Security program by $72 billion. White House budget director Mick Mulvaney justified the cuts in March when he said that disability insurance was not “part of what people think of when they think of Social Security.”
6. Cuts to cancer research programs: In a number of areas, Trump’s budget would slash funding for the nation’s health and science programs. The National Cancer Institute’s budget would be cut by $1 billion, while the National Institute of Health budget would drop by more than $5 billion. The National Science Foundation would be hit with an 11 percent cut, eliminating $776 million in funding. The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute’s budget would be cut by $575 million, while the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases would be cut by $838 million. Many of the programs in each department are geared toward areas like cancer research and climate change research.