The Donald Trump administration released the fiscal 2026 budget proposal and topline discretionary funding request Friday, calling for a 13% increase in defense spending and a 22.6% decrease in non-defense spending.
The request, obtained by the Exchange Monitor, said the Department of Defense would “re-establish deterrence” in coordination with Trump’s “peace through strength” agenda. The 13% increase would be combined with $113 billion in mandatory funding, and would include priorities such as “[deterring] Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific.”
Another key priority listed in the funding request was “American Energy Dominance,” wherein the administration would cancel $15 billion from DOE funding from the “Green New Deal” and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and reorient it toward domestic fossil energy, nuclear reactors and advanced nuclear fuels.
According to the version of the skinny budget released by the Office of Management and Budget Friday, the National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA) would get $24 billion, the same as in 2025. When including resources from the $150 billion defense reconciliation bill, NNSA would get $30 billion total, or an increase of 25%.
The Office of Environmental Management (EM) would get $389 million less than in 2025, including a reduction of $178 million due to the transferring of the Savannah River Site from EM to the NNSA. The Hanford Site would stay at 2025 levels.
The Office of Nuclear Energy would get $408 million less than 2025 levels that went to what the administration deemed “non-essential research on nuclear energy.”
