When the President addresses Congress and the nation on Tuesday, it will likely bring in a broader discussion of the federal budget which has had limited debate thus far into the new Administration. It is expected that the Administration will outline a budget proposal for FY 2018 when they release a slimmed down version of a federal budget on March 14.
Likely within that March proposal will be the Administration’s outline of how large tax cuts will be, what programs will be eliminated on a short list, how much of an increase the Defense Department will get and which entitlements could be targeted for block grant status.
To date there have been limited leaks with the New York Times reporting more than a week ago that a budget memo was circulating with required feedback for the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) due on February 24. That same report indicated that the hit list could include popular conservative targets such as the National Endowment for the Arts, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Legal Services and National and Community Service.
