Increases. There have been very few true &quot;cuts&quot; at the Federal level in the last few generations.<p>The secret is Baseline Budgeting[1].<p>If your agency got $100 this year, you ask for $110 next year and that becomes the &quot;baseline.&quot; Now when the actual budget negotiations happen, you may only get $105. Most people would call this a 5% increase but instead they consider it a  (roughly) 5% cut from the baseline.<p>This is how the government can claim they&#x27;re &quot;cutting the budget&quot; while still spending more than last year.<p>For a bonus, imagine the above agency is sympathetic - like the food stamp program - and requests $200 next year. When some Congressperson says &quot;No wait, you only need $110,&quot; they&#x27;re accused of &quot;cutting food stamps in half&quot; and &quot;wanting people to starve!&quot; It&#x27;s effective for tearing apart the other person, not effective for actually getting things done.<p>1 - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Baseline_(budgeting)" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;Baseline_(budgeting)</a>