WASHINGTON (AP) — White House budget director Mick Mulvaney calls it a “hard power budget, not a soft power budget,” while President Donald Trump says it “puts America first must make the safety of our people its number one priority.”

The $1.15 trillion budget finances a significant increase in the military and makes a down payment on a U.S.-Mexico border wall with hefty cuts elsewhere.

Foreign aid has been slashed, with funding for the State Department and the U.S. Agency for International Development down 28 percent, or $10 billion. The Environmental Protection agency gets a more than 31 percent cut, with 3,200 jobs eliminated.

The budget goes after the frequent targets of the party’s staunchest conservatives, eliminating the National Endowment for the Arts, legal aid for the poor, low-income heating assistance and the AmeriCorps national service program established by former President Bill Clinton.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is defending itself at trial against more than 300 farmers and other landowners who say the agency’s management of the Missouri River has contributed to major flooding in five states, most notably 2011 flooding that caused billions of dollars in damage.

The civil trial that began March 6 in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Kansas City, Missouri involves a 2014 lawsuit alleging the Corps has deemphasized flood control along the Missouri and put more emphasis on habitat restoration. The plaintiffs say that’s led to more flooding, including 2011 flooding that caused billions of dollars in damage.

The U.S. government counters that authorities never promised to stop all Missouri River flooding.

A decision isn’t expected until summer, at the earliest.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Amusement park regulations in Kansas could be tightened after a lawmaker’s son was killed last year on a water slide that passed private inspection.

House Federal and State Affairs Committee Chairman John Barker says he will hold hearings March 23-24 on a bill to strengthen inspection requirements of amusement parks.

The bill would require the parks’ insurance companies to hire engineers with some experience to inspect rides that can now be inspected privately.

The current law came under scrutiny after Olathe Republican Rep. Scott Schwab’s son, Caleb Schwab, was killed last year on the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Water Park in Kansas City. The slide had passed inspection by a private inspector.

The ride has been closed and will be torn down when an investigation is completed.

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Gordmans has told state regulators that the department store operator plans to eliminate nearly 600 jobs in May as part of the company’s bankruptcy when it closes both its distribution centers and its headquarters.

The company said it expects to eliminate 450 jobs in Nebraska on May 12 when it closes its Omaha headquarters and distribution center. It said it plans to eliminate another 140 jobs the same day at a distribution center it will close in Clayton, Indiana, near Indianapolis.

Gordmans notified state labor regulators of the pending layoffs this week after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection Monday.

Gordmans employed more than 5,000 people and ran over 100 stores in 22 states in the Midwest before the bankruptcy. The stores continue operating but Gordmans plans to liquidate inventory.

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Federal Reserve is raising its benchmark interest rate for the second time in three months and signaling that any further hikes this year will be gradual. The move reflects a consistently solid U.S. economy and will likely mean higher rates on some consumer and business loans.

The Fed’s key short-term rate is rising by a quarter-point to a still-low range of 0.75 percent to 1 percent. The central bank said in a statement that a strengthening job market and rising prices had moved it closer to its targets for employment and inflation.

The message the Fed is sending is that nearly eight years after the Great Recession ended, the economy no longer needs the support of ultra-low borrowing rates and is healthy enough to withstand steadily tighter credit.

LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The developer of the Keystone XL pipeline has donated $20,000 to the Nebraska Republican Party through a political action committee run by one of its U.S. subsidiaries.

The Feb. 8 donation was made as TransCanada seeks approval for a route through Nebraska. It came from Columbia Pipeline Group, which was acquired by the Canadian company in July.

TransCanada filed its application with the Nebraska Public Service Commission Feb. 16. Four of the commission’s five members are Republicans.

TransCanada has spent $925,000 in lobbying in Nebraska over five years. It donated $2,500 to then-Gov. Dave Heineman in 2010, but Heineman returned the money because federal law bars contributions from foreign entities.

Nebraska GOP Executive Director Kenny Zoeller says the company donation was to sponsor a Feb. 23 recognition dinner for lawmakers.

TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas House unanimously passed a sales tax exemption for supplies and services to repair or construct fencing for agricultural land.

The bill passed Tuesday by the House is in response to fires that burned hundreds of thousands of acres in Kansas last week. The fires destroyed miles of fencing on ranches and farms, mostly in Comanche and Clark counties.

The Wichita Eagle reports the legislation exempts from sales tax goods and services purchased to help repair or rebuild fencing.

The House gave the bill early and final approval Tuesday. It now heads to the Senate. The Kansas Department of Revenue estimates the sales tax exemption would cost the state about $4.6 million.

The Legislature passed a similar tax exemption last year after fires in Comanche and Barber counties.

NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) — The U.S. Navy is enlisting the help of seals – but not the kind of highly trained special operatives with whom it usually associates.

Scientists think real seals, specifically their whiskers, may be the key to a new way for ships and underwater vehicles to sense their environment.

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) — The Republican-controlled Iowa Senate has begun debate on a bill that would ban most abortions in the state after 20 weeks of pregnancy.

The chamber launched floor discussion Tuesday night. It’s unclear when lawmakers will vote on the measure, though it’s expected to pass. It still requires legislative activity in the GOP-led House.

Iowa law bans abortions at the end of the second trimester of pregnancy, or 27 weeks. The bill would ban most abortions after 20 weeks of pregnancy, based on the disputed premise that a fetus can feel pain at that stage.

There would be exemptions where the mother’s life is at risk. A woman can terminate a pregnancy between 20 and 24 weeks if the fetus has a fatal condition.

More than 15 states have passed similar legislation, and a handful faced legal challenges.

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) — Two Mexican nationals have admitted in federal court their role in a large marijuana-growing operation at a central Missouri federal wildlife refuge.

Twenty-seven-year-old Carlos Horacio Vasquez-Duarte and 24-year-old Rigaberto Camacho Reyes pleaded guilty Tuesday in Jefferson City.

Federal prosecutors say law enforcement officers discovered the marijuana-growing operation last October on five acres of the Big Muddy National Fish and Wildlife Refuge in Howard County. That’s where Vasquez-Duarte and Reyes were arrested.

Prosecutors say a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service agent calculated that there were 881 plants in the ground and 1,103 plants that had been cut and were drying at the site.

Sentencing dates for Vasquez-Duarte and Reyes were not immediately set.