The Trump Administration is requesting $1.5 trillion to fund the War in Iran. Given the Republican Party’s stated commitment to reducing the federal deficit — which stood at $1.8 billion last year — and reining in the national debt — now at over $30 trillion — that funding will need to come from cuts to other programs.
How would you do it?
Use the calculator below to make cuts across any of 36 major programs listed by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) in their annual budget reports. I’ve omitted Social Security (both the retirement and disability portions) and Medicare because those programs are funded through dedicated payroll taxes and trust funds rather than general revenues.
Spending figures reflect actual fiscal year 2025 amounts from the CBO’s February 2026 budget baseline report, and exclude offsetting receipts and negative budget amounts.
Select your combination of cuts and download the results as a PNG to share. If you click Submit, your selections — and only your selections, with no other identifying information — will be saved to a Google Sheet. After a few days, I’ll analyze the responses and share findings in a follow-up post.
Questions or feedback? Feel free to reach out.
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