The President’s Budget request for FY27 was released on Friday, April 3rd, proposing a $445 billion increase to defense spending and a $73 billion cut to non-defense spending. The budget proposes strikingly similar cuts to those that were rejected by Congress in the FY26 cycle, including to clean water, scientific research, and Great Lakes programs. The President’s Budget is a statement of administration priorities; while the President can propose funding levels, only Congress has the power to actually set them through annual appropriations bills.
Under the proposal, the EPA would see its budget cut by 52%, to just $4.2 billion. The budget would eliminate 16 EPA categorical grants totaling about $1 billion. Funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative faces a cut of 0.4%, to $367.7 million. The President’s Budget again proposes to cut the Clean Water and Drinking Water State Revolving Funds, EPA programs that fund water infrastructure across the nation and are critical to the Great Lakes region. The CWSRF was funded at $1.639 billion and the DWSRF at $1.126 billion for FY26, but the budget would cut funding by 90%, to $155 million and $150 million, respectively. The Administration aims to “return the SRFs to their intended structure of funds revolving at the State level,” but funding at the proposed levels would cripple the program and provide woefully inadequate funding for water infrastructure at a time of heightened need.
NOAA’s Operations, Research, and Facilities budget would be cut by $1.6 billion, or 33%. While line-item estimates are not yet available for NOAA, the budget would eliminate the Office of Oceanic and Atmospheric Research (OAR), which could lead to severe cuts to harmful algal bloom research. This elimination was also proposed by the President last year, and was rejected in the final FY26 Commerce, Justice, and Science appropriations bill passed by Congress. NOAA’s Sea Grant College Program – including seven Sea Grant programs in the Great Lakes basin that work on invasive species and fisheries management, environmental protection, tourism development, and much more – would presumably be eliminated. The budget would also slash the budgets of the National Ocean Service by over 50% and NOAA Fisheries by 40%.
Great Lakes programs in the Interior Department would also face cuts. The U.S Fish and Wildlife invasive carp program would be cut by over 50% to $13.9 million, and the budget would not include any funding for contract fishing activities. Funding for the Great Lakes Fish and Wildlife Restoration Program would be zeroed out. At the U.S. Geological Survey, the budget would eliminate the Ecosystems Mission Area, though USGS invasive carp work would continue at flat funding in a different program area. As part of the elimination of the Ecosystems Mission Area, DOI would begin to “prioritize the decommissioning of Ecosystem Mission Area facilities,” of which the Great Lakes Science Center is one. The proposal notes that “Funding will be used to decommission and conduct the environmental cleanup required at EMA center locations, as well as operate the facility until facilities are fully decommissioned and, if owned, sold. In some cases, facilities may be transferred to partners willing to assume the cost of operating them.” It is not clear what the particular plans for the Great Lakes Science Center might be, if there are any.
The budget also threatens sea lamprey control activities. It would eliminate $810,000 in funding for the Lake Champlain Sea Lamprey account. Further, the State Department budget proposes to cut funding to the Great Lakes Fishery Commission by 25% to $39 million, particularly targeting the Lake Champlain and Lake Memphremagog programs.
The budget also proposes to eliminate the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP), a $4 billion program that helps millions of low-income households pay utility bills. It would also cut $15 billion in Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act funds, including for clean energy projects and electric vehicle chargers.
The Northeast-Midwest Institute (NEMWI) has provided a summary highlighting key accounts pertaining to the Great Lakes and will update it with more information as it becomes available.