The Trump Administration is requesting $114.1 billion in funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation for fiscal year 2027, including $26.8 billion in new discretionary budget authority and $87.3 billion in mandatory budget authority.
[Above photo via the White House]
However, the president’s USDOT FY 2027 budget request – released on April 3 – does not include any recommendations or proposals for surface transportation funding reauthorization, which is critical as current reauthorization contained within the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act or IIJA expires on September 30.
Accordingly, the Highway Trust Fund or HTF and other highway, highway safety, transit, and rail programs administered by USDOT will require authorizing legislation starting October 1 in the form of a multi-year reauthorization or at least a shorter-term program extension.
According to analysis by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, solvency of the HTF is also in question in FY 2027, for while the HTF’s Highway Account is expected to finish out the upcoming fiscal year with a $14.5 billion balance, the Congressional Budget Office projects that the HTF’s Mass Transit Account is expected to incur a $2.7 billion cash shortfall.
Additionally, as FY 2026 is the last year for General Fund advance appropriations under Division J of the IIJA, programs funded under this section – such as the Bridge Formula Program – will see no new money in FY 2027 per the Trump administration’s budget request.
The USDOT budget request for FY 2027 proposes 2.1 percent increases in all obligation limitations on HTF contract authority above the levels written into the final year of the IIJA: $63.9 billion for federal-aid highways and $14.95 billion for transit formula grants.
Major key funding requests of note from the USDOT’s proposed FY 2027 budget include:
- A total of $87.6 billion is requested for core surface transportation programs, with an additional $1.5 billion requested for nationally significant freight projects and bridge repair, while repealing existing funding for electric vehicle or EV charger construction.
- A total of $4 billion is requested for the Federal Aviation Administration to modernize and sustain the nation’s air traffic control network. Additionally, USDOT requests funds to continue its hiring surge of air traffic controller trainees and to hire additional safety personnel to oversee FAA operations and the aviation industry.
- The budget contains a series of major maritime-focused funding requests, starting with the creation of a Maritime Security Trust Fund. That trust fund will provide $1.4 billion in new dedicated resources for mariner education, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy campus improvements, mariner workforce development, domestic shipyard development grants, Port Infrastructure Development Program grants, and the procurement of new vessels for the U.S. Maritime Administration, known as MARAD.
- A total of $403 million is requested for key transportation investments in and around Washington. D.C., to help address issues such as crime on the capital’s transit system, the deterioration of Washington Union Station, and the need to improve local highways, bridges, boulevards, and parks.
- A total of $60 million is requested to help USDOT consolidate its building footprint in the National Capital Region, including the relocation of several thousand FAA employees from the aging FAA headquarters facility to the USDOT headquarters building.
In terms of specific funding requests for each of the USDOT’s modal administrations, without any further IIJA Division J plus-ups:
- The Federal Highway Administration would receive $714 million for Bridge Formula Program or BFP funding, with the zeroing out of the $5.5 billion per year IIJA advance appropriations for BFP starting in FY 2027. It also proposes repealing $1.58 billion in unused contract authority from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure discretionary grant program and $2.665 billion in unused contract authority from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure or NEVI formula program for a total reduction of $4.2 billion. Finally, the budget proposes an additional $770 million for the FHWA’s Infrastructure for Rebuilding America or INFRA program.
- The Federal Transit Administration would receive $1.2 billion for its Capital Investment Grants program, a reduction of $485.5 million from FY 2026 funding.
- The Federal Railroad Administration would receive $300 million for its Consolidated Rail Infrastructure and Safety Improvements or CRISI program, a decrease of $707 million from FY 2026. The budget also proposes zeroing out Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail grants from $7.2 billion in FY 2026 and would reduce Amtrak’s funding to $2.1 billion, a decrease of $4.7 billion from FY 2026.
- The Federal Aviation Administration would receive an additional $481 million for the FAA Operations Account to support hiring of air traffic controllers, a 3.5 percent increase over FY 2026.
The Trump administration’s FY 2027 budget request also proposes cancelling out major discretionary grant programs administered by the USDOT’s Office of the Secretary, including the following: The Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity or RAISE program; the National Infrastructure Project Assistance or “Mega” program; the Safe Streets and Roads for All or SS4A program; the Strengthening Mobility and Revolutionizing Transportation or SMART grants program; the National Culvert Removal, Replacement, and Restoration or Culvert AOP grant program; and the Rural and Tribal Assistance pilot programs.
The budget also reduces Essential Air Services funding to $315 million in FY 2027 from $688 million in FY 2026.
