Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images
On Thursday, President Trump unveiled his "America First" budget proposal that would bring down huge funding cuts to the Environmental Protection Agency and the State Department, along with a bunch of other domestic agencies, in order to pay for a $54 million increase on military spending, Politico reports.The plan issues the largest cuts to the EPA, slashing its budget by 31 percent, and the State Department, cutting its funding by 29 percent. The Department of Health and Human Services will also sustain a 20 percent funding cut, and the president also proposed cutting numerous Housing and Urban Development projects, including "a program that helps poor families pay their heating bills," according to Politico.By "America First," Trump really means "Military First," since the widespread domestic cuts will all funnel money toward defense programs. The Department of Defense will get around a 10 percent raise in its budget, and Homeland Security will see a 7 percent hike with the proposed plan. The plan also requests money to bolster the number of border and immigration agents.In particular, Trump has earmarked a special $1.5 billion to fund his border wall between the US and Mexico. That's only enough money to get the project started, though, since a DHS report from earlier this year estimated that a completed wall could cost upward of $21.6 billion. Of course, Trump has said time and time again that Mexico will be reimbursing the US for those costs, but Mexico is obviously less than receptive to that idea.Office of Management and Budget director Mick Mulvaney called Thursday's plan a "budget blueprint," instead of a complete budget, and the White House will release its full, detailed plan in May."A budget that puts America First must make the safety of our people its number one priority—because without safety, there can be no prosperity," Trump wrote in the budget plan, sounding like a character from Small Soldiers come to life.