WASHINGTON — Leading Democrats are responding to the Bush administration’s proposed cuts in homeland security grants with accusations that the president has turned his back on New York City and his budget amounts to “surrendering” the war at home.

The city could lose tens of millions of dollars in anti-terrorism dollars in President Bush’s proposed budget, which slashes funding for key grant programs that aid states and urban areas.

The administration is proposing an 8% overall spending increase for the Department of Homeland Security, to $46.4 billion, with much of the new money aimed at securing the nation’s borders against illegal immigration.

But top Democrats are assailing the large cuts in federal aid to state and local governments, which would shrink the pot of money for which the city annually competes.

New York politicians have pleaded for years for more homeland security money, and yesterday’s budget proposals led to the renewed claim that Mr. Bush had reneged on a pledge to support the city that suffered the deadliest attack ever on American soil.

“The president was here on 9/11 and has talked about understanding our pain,” Senator Schumer said at a news conference at Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan. “And yet New York is continuously shortchanged in homeland security funds.”

Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat who represents parts of Brooklyn and Queens and a likely mayoral candidate in 2009, was even more emphatic. “I hope we win the war on terror overseas because if we adopt the Bush budget, we’ll be surrendering here at home,” he said in a statement. Citing the cut in funding, he added, “If he told New York to ‘drop dead,’ it would be an improvement.”

Rep. Carolyn Maloney, a Democrat representing Manhattan and Queens, said she was “astonished” by the proposed cuts to homeland security.

The president’s budget calls for a 63% cut in state homeland security grants, to $187 million from $509 million, and a nearly 20% drop in funding for the Urban Area Security Initiative, to $600 million from $747 million, according to estimates in the document.

Mr. Weiner yesterday issued an analysis indicating that the city’s share of funding from the two programs would be $136 million less than it was in 2005.

While Mr. Weiner and other city officials predicted deep losses for the five boroughs, a spokesman for the Department of Homeland Security, Jarrod Agen, said it was too early to say for sure whether New York would get less money next year. “I think it would be inaccurate to make that claim at this time,” he said.

Mr. Agen said the department plans to give the most funds to the highest-risk areas, ensuring that the city would get at least a sizable portion of the money pool.

A spokesman for Mayor Bloomberg, Stuart Loeser, said last night that reductions to the first-responder programs make it “even harder for us to get our fair share.” He said the mayor would work to restore the cuts.

The Bush administration chose to direct more anti-terrorism funds toward interoperability grants, which assist localities in improving communications among agencies such as police and fire departments. The proposed budget includes $1 billion for an interoperability grant program, but the city may not be eligible for those funds.

In a letter to administration officials and congressional leaders last month, Mr. Bloomberg warned that current regulations restrict the city from receiving federal interoperability grants because the system it is developing uses a lower radio frequency than the law permits. That issue has yet to be addressed by Congress or the administration.

The homeland security proposals drew criticism across party and geographical lines. The chairman of the Senate Homeland Security Committee, Senator Lieberman of Connecticut, said the president’s budget “represents a serious disconnect between his rhetoric and the reality of protecting Americans from terrorist attacks and natural disasters.” Mr. Lieberman, an independent who caucuses with the Democrats but is often a White House ally on national security issues, said the proposals would “undercut crucial support” for first responders. “We are not retreating from the war on terror abroad,” he said. “Nor should we be retreating from the war on terror at home.”

The ranking Republican on the committee, Senator Collins of Maine, said the cut in funding for states would be “a severe blow” to terrorism prevention efforts.

At a news conference in Washington, the homeland security secretary, Michael Chertoff, focused on the administration’s efforts to combat illegal immigration, which include spending $778 million for 3,000 additional border patrol agents.

The anti-terrorism cuts were part of a range of proposed spending reductions across a $2.9 trillion budget that seeks to make the president’s tax cuts permanent while eliminating the nation’s deficit within five years. The spending plan includes $481.1 billion for the Defense Department and $145 billion in 2008 for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It will undoubtedly face opposition from the Democrats, who now hold sway on Capitol Hill.

New York Democrats also criticized several additional areas of the budget, especially a proposed cut of more than $70 billion from Medicare and Medicaid that would help pay for the president’s plan to make private health insurance more affordable. Senator Clinton and Mr. Schumer condemned the idea at their news conference yesterday in Manhattan. Mrs. Clinton, who plans to make health care a centerpiece of her campaign for president, accused Mr. Bush of “misplaced priorities.” “This budget is built on the backs of working people because the priorities are funding the war and continuing to provide tax breaks to the wealthiest people,” she said. Mr. Schumer also criticized the president for underfunding Amtrak. The train system received $800 million in the budget, but the senator cited estimates indicating the railroad would need $1.3 billion to stay afloat. “Amtrak will not be able to function,” he said.

The lone Republican in the city’s congressional delegation, Rep. Vito Fossella of Staten Island and Brooklyn, said the president’s budget was “mixed.”

He applauded Mr. Bush for continuing the tax cuts, saying it would keep the economy growing. But he expressed disappointment about the smaller homeland security pot.