White House officials this week are preparing to ask Congress for $15 billion in spending cuts, according to a GOP aide familiar with the plan that will target unused funds that were previously appropriated.
The proposal was initially expected to be sent to Capitol Hill on Monday but was delayed after a group of House conservatives asked for some of the reductions to be increased.
President Trump’s chief economic adviser Larry Kudlow told reporters last month that the White House was preparing to use a presidential tool known as “rescission” to erase $60 billion from the $1.3 trillion omnibus spending bill passed by Congress in late March. However, GOP leaders later convinced Trump to ditch that approach, arguing that it would have been bad politics to undo the bipartisan deal.
“We want a much more modest government role,”‘ Kudlow said before the original plan was scrapped.
The plan submitted this week is expected to target unused spending at a variety of executive agencies, including the Energy Department, where cuts to an energy-efficient vehicles program could alone save several billion dollars. Office of Management and Budget Director Mick Mulvaney met with top Republican lawmakers last week to discuss the spending cuts and finalize the plan.
Trump will need a simple majority of 51 votes to get the plan through the Senate. It’s currently unclear what level of support the White House expects to attract in both chambers.
