[Trump's Record Defense Budget Plan Fails to Gain Approval; Pentagon Prepares to Cut $400 Billion] According to a report by Jinse Finance on October 30th, Politico reports that as US officials increasingly realize that Trump's proposed record defense budget is unlikely to gain congressional approval, the Pentagon is preparing for significant budget cuts. The Trump administration has been urging Congress to approve a defense budget of up to $1.5 trillion, which would be the largest military spending in US history. However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that the Pentagon and the Congressional Appropriations Committee are working on a smaller defense budget of approximately $1.1 trillion. The Trump administration has been hoping to push for approval of the record defense budget through a legislative mechanism called the "Budget Reconciliation Process." This process allows Republican lawmakers to bypass Democratic opposition and add an additional $350 billion to the $1.15 trillion base budget. Pentagon budget planners are assessing which defense programs must be prioritized for funding. A former government official stated, "They are indeed working on a smaller budget proposal. A lower budget is more generally expected compared to any proposal approaching $1.5 trillion."