- $3 billion revolving fund allocated to DFC in the new budget to support US national security and American interests
- World Bank Group‘s International Development Association 21 receives $3.2 billion disbursed over three years
- The Treasury Department’s Debt Restructuring account, International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the G20’s Global Agriculture and Food Security Program were booted from the budget
- While the Department of Education sees a 15 percent spending decrease in its overall funding, the school choice voucher program gets $500 million in funding, a 12 percent increase for charter schools
- Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Research also received a boost under the new “skinny budget” to ensure America remains at the forefront of technological advancement and research development.
Kemi Osukoya
May 2, 2025
The White House Office of Management and Budget Friday unveiled a skinny version of President Donald Trump’s $1.7 trillion fiscal year 2026 discretionary funding budget proposal, which includes drastic reductions to nearly all federal government agencies and international programs.
Among the casualties of the bureaucracy reduction is the African Development Bank’s development fund, the African Development Fund—a concession financing tool that gives grants, concessional loans, and technical assistance to eligible poor and vulnerable countries across Africa to support and foster socioeconomic growth and reduce poverty by investing in sustainable agriculture, finance, infrastructure and social sectors like water, energy, transportation.
The fund provides a financial lifeline for countries that otherwise will not get loans. Thirty-seven developing countries and seven million people have benefited from the ADF financing, helping them develop much-needed basic service delivery like infrastructures like roads, water, and sanitation projects to their populations.
The Trump administration said ADF’s program agenda for climate-related agriculture financing, gender-related programs, and water, sanitation, and hygiene programs does not align with Trump’s America First Agenda.
OMB officials said the budget realigns American foreign aid by ensuring that aid spending is efficient and consistent with the Trump administration’s America First agenda.
On the other hand, the President reauthorizes the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation with a $3 billion revolving investment fund in the new budget to support US national security and American interests. The DFC was launched during Trump’s first term.
While Trump eliminated funding to ADF, the AfDB will still receive funding through the World Bank Group‘s International Development Association 21, which has been allocated $3.2 billion in the budget over three years. The IDB provides funding to multilateral banks like AfDB, Asian Development Bank, and other regional multinational financial institutions.
Also booted from the budget are the Treasury Department’s Debt Restructuring account, the International Fund for Agricultural Development, and the G20’s Global Agriculture and Food Security Program– which works with multilateral institutions like the Asian Development Bank, AfDB, Food and Agriculture Organization, International Finance Corporation, IFAD, World Food Program and the World Bank and civil society in supporting resilient and sustainable agriculture and food systems in the world’s poorest countries to improve food and nutrition security worldwide.
Trump ensures America remains on the cutting edge of technological advancement and research development with an increase in funding for Artificial Intelligence and Quantum Research
The proposal, which the American president says is a pretty way of dealing with “wasteful spending and bloated bureaucracy,” includes $163 billion in drastic cuts to federal agencies and programs such as education, Housing and Urban Development, and medical research but boosts spending to Homeland Security by 65 percent and Department of Defense by 13 percent.
The increase in Defense spending will go towards revitalizing the American defense industrial base, strengthening safety, security, and sovereignty, and deterring Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific region.
The budget, which the Trump administration’s OMB official said is the lowest non-defense spending level since 2017, shows a 23 percent overall reduction from the enacted 2025 budget.
Russ Voight, Director of the Office of Management and Budget said “No agency was speared in the Left’s taxpayer-funded cultural revolution. At this critical moment, we need a historic Budget—one that ends the funding of our decline, puts Americans first and delivers unprecedented support to our military and homeland security. The President’s Budget does all that.”
Other agencies that will see a significant reduction in spending include the Department of State, which will get a $50 billion cut, and NASA’s STEM program. The Department of Energy will get a $20.7 billion spending cut, including the elimination of grants programs for Biden era’s electric vehicle charger program.
While the Department of Education sees a 15 percent spending decrease, the administration boosts the school choice voucher program by increasing charter school funding with a $500 million investment, a 12 percent increase. The goal is to give parents more choice in their child education. It also consolidated funding grants for K-12 programs into two distinctive segments that can be accessed through the K-12 Simplified Funding Program and Special Education Simplified Funding Program,
Climate-related agencies like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and scientific and medical research programs at the National Institute of Health also see significant reductions in their programs.
Artificial Intelligence and quantum Research also received a boost under the new “skinny budget” to ensure America remains at the forefront of technological advancement and research development.
