WASHINGTON, D.C. — As the Senate considers President Donald Trump’s so-called “big, beautiful bill,” which passed the House last month, this week House appropriators are starting to negotiate the details of next year’s federal budget.

After releasing a “skinny” version of its proposed 2026 budget in early May, the White House put out a 1,224-page version last Friday. The detailed budget proposes $163 billion in cuts, about 23%, to domestic programs run by the Departments of Agriculture, Education, Labor, State and Housing and Urban Development. That would come alongside a $1 trillion spending increase, about 13%, for defense and immigration enforcement.

Republican appropriators signaled they would largely stick to the outline of the request, but that they may not be able to deliver the 12 appropriations bills that make up the budget by the deadline of Sept. 30, just four months away. Their work typically takes six to nine months after they receive the president’s detailed budget outline.

At a hearing of the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Financial Services and General Government on June 4, Office of Budget and Management (OMB) Director Russell Vought acknowledged that the White House has been more focused on its other priority, the tax and spending cut reconciliation bill.

“We thought at the end of the day, it would confuse the Congress and confuse the American people to have two sets of proposals, two sets of numbers. And that’s one of the reasons that we are focusing on reconciliation,” Vought testified at the hearing. “We understand the job that you have to do and we wanted to get you material as soon as we possibly could.”

Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Ohio, who chairs the subcommittee, emphasized that Congress, not the president, must pass the federal budget.

“As appropriators in the federal government, we need to work with OMB to ensure that funds are being used as Congress intended,” Joyce said in his opening statement. “That is why the president’s budget is so important. This is a guide to helping Congress understand the agency priorities, and how the legislative and executive branch can work together to deploy the resources necessary to execute these priorities.”

Some Democrats said they were willing to work with the administration on the proposal.

“I support a lot of these investments in our defense. I support the border fixes,” said Rep. Greg Landsman, D-OH. “We need comprehensive immigration reform. They should do this budget and border security and immigration reform with [Democrats]. That’s going to get you the best result and something that’s durable, that isn’t going to just get ripped up after the next election.”

Congress has not passed a full federal budget on time since 1996, and that is not expected to change this year. If the full budget is not ready by October, Congress will likely need to pass another temporary extension to avoid a partial government shutdown.