THE UNKINDEST CUT: The U.S. Coast Guard falls under Department of Homeland Security, not the Pentagon, but in time of war it is the fifth branch of the military. That’s why a Trump administration plan to hit the smallest service — the one directly charged with protecting U.S. maritime borders — with a $1.3 billion budget cut is rubbing so many people the wrong way.

Rep. Duncan Hunter has fired off a letter to the president pointing out that his fiscal 2018 budget proposal is at odds with Trump’s promises to rebuild the military. “I must emphasize that the Coast Guard is without question a branch of the U.S. military, which is a fact that has been apparently discounted by OMB given its obvious lack of respect for the Coast Guard,” Hunter wrote. On the chopping block is a “roughly $500 million new ship,” likely the ninth national security cutter. But Huntington Ingalls Industries, which builds the cutters, said that it’s already purchased long lead materials and begun pre-production for the ship.