For year two in Trump administration budget proposals, OSHA again faces cuts to its enforcement and standards-setting activity, according to the recently released federal proposal for fiscal year 2027, which was analyzed by the Confined Space newsletter written by Jordan Barab, who served as deputy assistant director of the agency from 2009 to 2017.

For FY 2027, the proposal calls for cutting OSHA’s enforcement budget by 13.5%, from $243 million to $210.3 million. Last year, a 9.7% cut in enforcement was proposed.

Fewer inspections are proposed as well — 22,040 for FY 2027, a decrease of 27% from inspections conducted in FY 2025 and 36% fewer than FY 2024.

OSHA’s enforcement staff is at the lowest level in OSHA’s 55-year history, according to Confined Space.

Safety and health standards work is proposed to be slashed by 15.1%, from $18.5 million to $15.7 million.

Funding is requested to support 44 OSHA staff in standards-setting. In FY 2012, the standards office was budgeted for 96 staff, according to Confined Space.

Other proposed FY27 reductions:

• Whistleblower protection -25.9% 
• Technical support -13.5%
• State enforcement -4.0%

Federal compliance assistance is proposed to increase by 14.2%.

In total, OSHA’s FY 2027 budget is proposed to decrease by 7.5%, from $629 million to $582 million.

The administration’s proposed budget cuts for FY26 were mostly avoided by Senate action and OSHA’s funding ultimately was only reduced by 0.5% from FY25 spending.

That pattern is likely to be repeated, with the wild card being the November mid-term elections. Democrats are expected to regain a majority in the House of Representatives and propose a much higher OSHA budget. There is a slight possibility Democrats could take back control of the Senate, which could create a much different picture for OSHA enforcement and standards-setting.