The Trump administration in the US wants to cut significantly the budget of the US Coast Guard to help pay for its crackdown on illegal immigration, according to internal budget documents reviewed by news site Politico.
The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) is seeking a 14% cut to the USCG $9.1bn budget. Overall the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) would get a 6% increase, to $43.8bn. To help pay for it the budget of the USCG and the Transport & Security Administration (TSA) would be cut.
OMB also wants to cut 11% from the budget of FEMA, which oversees the national response to disasters such as floods and hurricanes.
Retired Admiral James Loy, a former USCG commandant who served as deputy homeland security secretary and TSA administrator under President George W Bush, said that the moves by the Trump administration were “ignorant of what constitutes national security. They simply don’t understand the equation.” http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/trump-coast-guard-budget-235750