Washington, DC – President Donald Trump is requesting major cuts to public transit and passenger rail in his newly released Fiscal Year (FY) 2027 Budget. Under the plan, public transit would see a 23% cut ($4.8 billion) and passenger rail an 82% ($2.8 billion) decrease.

The proposed10% across-the-board cuts to civilian agencies come as the President seeks a 42% increase ($1.5 trillion) in defense spending.

The President’s budget could also mean the end to advance appropriations under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), which would result in cuts to key transit and rail investments, including:

Capital Investment Grants ($1.6 billion)
Low or No Emission Competitive Grants ($1.05 billion)
State of Good Repair grants ($950 million)
All Station Accessibility Program ($350 million)
Ferry Competitive Grants ($250 million)
Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grants ($7.2 billion)
Railroad Crossing Elimination Grants ($500 million)

The Budget request does not include U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) surface transportation authorization funding or policy proposals.

If approved, Trump’s plan would also cut $52 million from the Transportation Security Administration in a move to privatize the TSA. Authors of the 92-page budget describe the federal agency as “troubled” and claim that privatization would result in cost savings.

According to the budget proposal, “small airports would be required to enroll in the Screening Partnership Program, under which TSA pays private screeners at designated airports. The airports that already use this program have demonstrated savings compared to Federal screening operations.”

The Screening Partnership Program is currently being used in 20 airports nationwide including San Francisco International Airport.  The proposal comes just weeks after air travelers experienced extreme airport delays nationwide as TSA agents were affected by the partial government shutdown and went unpaid for 50 days.