In the wake of September 11, President Bush's budget has shifted priorities dramatically. The winners are those programs that are linked to national security, such as the Pentagon, bio-terrorism defense (including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hospitals and health departments, and bio-safety labs), airlines and airports, the Coast Guard and seaport police, and firefighters, police and other "first responders". Homeland defense funds will double, if the budget is approved.

The losers are those programs that are unrelated to national defense. The Department of Labor's Employment Training Administration faces a 20 percent cut, mainly in its Youth Opportunity Grants and Youth Offender Grants. Medicare reimbursement fees for health care providers will continue to be held down. The Commerce Department's Manufacturing Extension Program and some fossil-energy research will be eliminated. The President also wants to put some mandatory programs (not normally subject to review) under the discretion of the White House and Congress. These include child-care and social-service block grants to the states, the federal flood insurance program, and federal direct student loan and administrative costs.

(Updated April 1, 2002)