The Trump administration last week announced plans to slash EPA’s spending by at least 65 percent, but a crucial question remains unaddressed: 65 percent of what?
The answer is key to determining the impact to EPA programs.
The agency’s core budget in fiscal 2024, for example, was about $10 billion, according to data posted on an EPA website. A 65 percent cut to that total would send spending — even before accounting for inflation’s effects — tumbling to a trough not seen since the early days of Ronald Reagan’s administration and undoubtedly gut the agency’s ability to do its job.
But actual EPA disbursements in 2024 were much higher than $10 billion, courtesy of money routed through programs created by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Assuming that those dollars are included in the base spending number, the consequences of any reduction could be much less draconian.
