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Federal Market Intelligence for Small Business |
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Trump’s big budget cuts: NOAA, HUD, Coast Guard, FEMA, TSADraft also has 36% boost for ICE, 27% more for border patrolsThe list of agencies targeted for major cuts in President Trump’s draft budget continues to grow. Trump’s preliminary budget for fiscal 2018 now includes huge cuts to the Housing and Urban Development Dept. (HUD), several Homeland Security Dept. agencies, and the Commerce Dept.’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), according to published reports. Portions of the draft were obtained by Politico, the Washington Post and other newspapers. The new details go beyond what was reported previously about possible cuts to the EPA and to State Dept. foreign aid (see related story). Based on the draft, the proposed reductions reportedly would include:
Draft budget The reports of these deep cuts have come following the announcement two weeks ago of the Trump administration’s goal of reducing civilian budgets by $54 billion next year, with deep cuts for the EPA and for foreign aid. The preliminary budget documents were drawn up by the Office of Management and Budget. White House officials say they are “passback” documents that are still being negotiated with the agencies involved. Even so, they provide insight into what might be in the president’s final version. Congress will draw up its own budget plans and presumably would consider the president’s recommendations. Small business procurement The sharp decreases in funding could have a severe impact on small business contracting. DHS had 34% of its eligible procurements go to small business in fiscal 2015, totaling $4.7 billion. Commerce awarded 43% to small vendors, totaling $1.8 billion. And HUD had 38% percent of awards going to small businesses, totaling $646 million, according to the SBA’s small business procurement scorecard. Increases for ICE and CBP While FEMA, TSA and the Coast Guard are slated for cuts, other DHS agencies would see large increases in their budgets, the Washington Post said. Funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) would grow about 36% to $7.9 billion, while Customs and Border Protection would get a 27% boost, to $14.2 billion, the Post said. Those additional dollars would primarily go toward adding border patrol agents and immigration enforcement agents. Overall, the DHS budget would be raised by 6.4%, to $43.8 billion. There would be money toward building a border wall with Mexico, detention beds, deportation transportation, and fixed and mobile surveillance units, according to reports. Commerce, NOAA slashed The 17% reduction to NOAA is the main element detailed as part of a planned 18% reduction to the entire Commerce Dept., the Washington Post reported, based on obtaining draft budget documents from a White House source. NOAA, which is one of the premier government agencies studying climate change and how to mitigate it, would see substantial cuts to its research and satellite funding under the administration’s preliminary plans. The reductions also would hit coastal management, estuary reserves, education and grants. NOAA’s Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research would lose $126 million, or 26%, while the satellite data division would lose $513 million, or 22%, the Post said. The National Marine Fisheries Service and National Weather Service get 5% cuts each. HUD public housing, CDBGs The Trump administration reportedly would cut $6 billion from HUD by reducing public housing building maintenance and eliminating most community development block grants, the Washington Post reported. About $1.3 billion would be cut from the public housing capital fund, and $600 million from the public housing operating fund. DHS, TSA and FEMA At the Coast Guard, there would be a $500 million savings by canceling a contract with Huntington Ingalls Industries to build a ninth security cutter. Another program reportedly on the chopping block is the Maritime Security Response Team program. At the TSA, the proposed budget cuts, first detailed by Politico, would eliminate four programs that cost the agency $187 million. That includes $65 million for a program for agents to observe people’s behavior at airport checkpoints to detect a possible terrorist attack before it happens. Another cut would be a $57 million program to send trained teams to secure airports, bus terminals and other transportation hubs against a terrorist threat, or a possible terrorist threat. Also on the chopping block are $45 million in grants for local law enforcement agencies to patrol airports and a $20 million pilot training program to protect against terrorism. FEMA’s bio-surveillance threat research and surveillance would take a 28% hit.
More information:
Washington Post: http://goo.gl/vOslzY
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