LDF Denounces Trump Administration’s Fiscal Year 2027 Budget Request

On April 3, 2026, President Donald Trump released his Fiscal Year 2027 (FY27) budget proposal. The proposed budget outlines several of the President's priorities for the upcoming fiscal year. In addition to increasing defense spending by $1.5 trillion dollars and allocating an additional $28.5 billion to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and Customs and Border Patrol, the budget proposes significant cuts to federal programs across health, housing, education, criminal justice, civil rights enforcement, environmental protections, and much more. The President's budget request also directly targets Black people, communities of color, and LGBTQ+ people by cutting safety net programs and advancing a divisive and false rhetoric related to so-called "woke" programs. Further, the request attempts to rename and rebrand the "One Big Beautiful Bill Act," which made the largest cuts to social safety net programs in U.S. history, as the "Working Families Tax Cut Act."

Demetria McCain, Director of Policyat the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), issued the following statement in response:

"The Trump administration is once again targeting people and programs that are already sorely underserved and underfunded. Rather than using this moment to alleviate the increasing economic strains people are facing-which the President has repeatedly promised he would do-the administration is attempting to increase defense spending by $1.5 trillion while diverting billions of dollars from domestic programs that families depend on every day.

"The President's FY27 budget request is fiscally harmful and further advances the administration's divisive rhetoric and agenda. Programs that help people buy homes, protect communities against environmental harm, and provide shelter after natural disasters are being cut. Programs that ensure access to justice, make college more affordable, and address health concerns facing marginalized communities would be eliminated. Black communities, communities of color, and other marginalized groups would bear the brunt of such a budget and are often named as deprioritized groups throughout the President's proposal.

"Members of Congress should remember their duty to act in the best interests of the people they represent across the country and reject this ill-conceived budget request. We urge community organizers, families, leaders, and advocates to demand Congress put forth a budget that meaningfully addresses the countless problems Americans are facing."

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Founded in 1940, theLegal Defense Fund (LDF)is the nation's first civil rights legalorganization. LDF has beencompletely separatefrom the National Association for theAdvancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957, though it was founded under theleadership of Thurgood Marshall while he was at the NAACP. LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute (TMI) is a division of LDF that undertakes innovative research and houses LDF'sarchives. In all media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF (do not include NAACP) and refer to the Institute as LDF's Thurgood Marshall Institute or TMI.