The White House is expected to release a plan on Tuesday for Congress to cut spending that has already been approved, using a decades-old law giving the president certain budget authority.
Politico reported on Monday that the proposed “rescission” request could total in the $15 billion range, up from the most recent estimate of $11 billion. Those cuts likely won’t come out of the $1.3 trillion omnibus funding bill signed into law in March, but will come from past spending that was never used.
Once the White House formally requests the rescission, Congress will have a 45-day window to act, when the bill can be passed in the Senate with a simple majority of just 51 votes. The process comes from a 1974 budget law.
The Washington Post reported on Monday that the plan would, in part, target spending within the Children’s Health Insurance Program from accounts that officials said “either expired last year or aren’t expected to be drawn upon.” According to the report, more than 30 programs are identified for cuts in the package.
Appropriators were deeply skeptical of the idea when it was first floated, with the White House hoping to take back a hefty $30 billion to $60 billion from the omnibus. Some Republicans on Capitol Hill were concerned that cutting already-passed spending would be perceived as going back on their prior agreements, poisoning the well for future spending talks. The government is funded for the rest of the current fiscal year, through September, but that’s still less than five months out.
“It would undermine the belief that your negotiating partner had the integrity that once the deal was made, to stick with the deal,” House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer told reporters during a briefing last month.
The rescission effort first came to light last month in response to frustration from conservatives and President Trump with the omnibus bill’s massive price tag. “The president has made clear that he is not happy with the amount of non-defense spending in the omnibus bill and will work with like-minded partners on Capitol Hill to see how we can reduce wasteful Washington spending within the law,” said White House budget director Mick Mulvaney, who reportedly spearheaded the undertaking.
Targeting unused funds could serve as a first step for congressional Republicans to determine whether such an effort can be successful before pursuing more ambitious rescission packages in the future. The Post reported on Monday that the White House plans to propose a $10-billion cut later this year that could include omnibus funding.
