Read a PDF of our statement here.

On May 2, President Donald Trump released his Fiscal Year (FY) 2026 “skinny” budget proposal, which outlines some of his funding priorities. The president has proposed approximately $163 billion — more than 20% — in funding cuts to federal programs including those that support housing, health, education, criminal justice, civil rights enforcement, and scientific research serving millions of Americans while prioritizing nearly $120 billion more in funding to the military. The proposal directly targets Black communities and other communities of color under the false notion of “cutting anti-woke programs.” It also calls for slashing funding to the Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) — the branch charged with enforcing federal statutes prohibiting discrimination in voting, education, housing, employment, and other areas; and protecting the rights of persons with disabilities, youth involved in the juvenile justice system, and people who interact with state or local police or sheriffs’ departments. If passed by Congress, this budget proposal would devastate everyday people and disproportionately impact Black communities, which are already underserved and underfunded.

In response, LDF Director of Policy Demetria McCain issued the following statement:

“In the continued flagrant effort to advance his own divisive agenda at the expense of everyday people, President Trump and his administration have put forth a shocking and fiscally harmful budget proposal to Congress. This proposed budget would cut tens of billions in federal programs on which millions of Americans rely. These programs ensure that people across our nation, including those from Black communities, can thrive in our economy while accessing clean water, affordable housing, strong public schools and congressionally authorized civil rights enforcement support. President Trump’s ‘anti-woke’ rhetoric is a dog-whistle for anti-Black racism, and a clear indication of his true goal: to harm Black and other marginalized communities.

“With drastic cuts across the board to nearly every federal agency – with some losing hundreds of millions, if not billions of dollars in funding – President Trump proposes that the federal government abdicate its fundamental responsibility to ensure equal opportunity for all. We implore Congress to reject this indefensible agenda and urge leaders, advocates, and communities to demand Congress put forth a budget that prioritizes the well-being of all Americans.”

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal includes cuts affecting the following key impact areas within LDF’s civil rights portfolio:

Economic Justice

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal would make it harder to thrive economically by:

  • Asking Congress to end the Minority Business Development Agency, which provides technical assistance to entrepreneurs seeking to launch and grow their companies;
  • Limiting access to rental assistance — despite the growing housing affordability crisis — and enabling racial discrimination by ending funding for housing discrimination investigations through the Fair Housing Initiatives Program;
  • Halting funding to Community Development Financial Institutions, which help low-income and underserved communities get access to loans, investments, and other financial services;
  • Terminating Community Development Block Grants, which are aimed at helping state and local governments build thriving cities and towns; and
  • Cutting federal funds that help ensure people can access clean water, affordable energy, and healthy environments–including funds to repair aging water systems and subsidized energy bills for low-income households as well as environmental justice programming.

Criminal Justice

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal would undermine public safety and deepen persistent inequities within the criminal justice system by:

  • Cutting over $1 billion from DOJ grant programs, including restorative justice programs and community-based approaches to advancing justice;
  • Dangerously undercutting the severity of hate crimes by dismissively referring to them as “so-called hate crimes,” while simultaneously suggesting that hate crime prevention programs — which the proposal seeks to eliminate — can lead to violations of the First Amendment; and
  • Cutting more than $1 billion from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, which supports mental health and substance abuse treatment programs, and instead increasing funding for criminalization and enforcement policies through the Drug Enforcement Agency.

Education Equity

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal would slash public school funding, including funding for historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs), decimate civil rights enforcement, and limit students’ access to equal educational opportunities by:

  • Cutting $12 billion to the Department of Education, with the largest cuts to programs that increase access to educational opportunities in public elementary and secondary schools nationwide;
  • Cutting $4.5 billion to federal grant programs that support public elementary and secondary schools;
  • Cutting $64 million in funding from Howard University, the nation’s only federally-chartered HBCU, despite the issuance of a presidential executive order less than a week ago that purported to support Black colleges and universities, which have historically been underfunded;
  • Dramatically decreasing funding for the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights, programs that increase college access and support federal work study, and other federal student aid programs that Black students rely on; and
  • Eliminating funding for some programs that advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in schools — including those that help train teachers, strengthen public schools, and reduce racial isolation.

Political Participation

President Trump’s FY 2026 budget proposal would undermine and fail to protect citizens’ voting rights by:

  • Cutting funding to DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, which includes the Voting Section that is meant to address racial discrimination in the political process. DOJ has already dismissed several lawsuits filed to address voter disenfranchisement and drastically reduced the number of personnel assigned to the Civil Rights Division and Voting Section in particular, leaving it without experienced leadership to enforce critical voting federal protections.

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Founded in 1940, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF) is the nation’s first civil rights law organization. LDF’s Thurgood Marshall Institute is a multi-disciplinary and collaborative hub within LDF that launches targeted campaigns and undertakes innovative research to shape the civil rights narrative. In media attributions, please refer to us as the Legal Defense Fund or LDF. Please note that LDF has been completely separate from the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) since 1957—although LDF was originally founded by the NAACP and shares its commitment to equal rights.

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