Latest news with #rescissions
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
House Republicans push for spending cancellations as Elon Musk and conservatives demand deeper budget cuts
And you thought you had just figured out what "reconciliation" means in Congressional budget terms. Here's a new vocabulary term: rescissions. You might not be able to spell it. But I can tell you what it does. A "rescissions" bill "rescinds" money which Congress has already allocated, ex post facto. For simplicity, I often describe rescissions legislation as "spending cancellations." Congress appropriated money. Then, under a recissions bill, Congress claws back dollars it previously appropriated. It's kind of like a reverse appropriation. And you thought that in elementary school, there were no takebacks. Presidential administrations send "budget requests" to Congress. This is the opposite. An administration can send a "recissions request" to Congress, too. And that's what Budget Director Russ Vought is doing this week. House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is intent on moving fast. "I'd like to turn it around as quickly as possible," said Johnson. "There may be multiple rescissions packages coming and we'll process them as quickly as we can. It's a big priority for me." Congressional conservatives and Elon Musk were not pleased with the relative paucity of spending cuts in the Big, Beautiful Bill. Musk told CBS he was "disappointed" in the legislation. "Which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it. And it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," said Musk about the hallmark of President Trump's agenda. By Tuesday morning, the world's richest man incinerated the bill on X and chastised most Republicans in Congress. Musk characterized the legislation as "a disgusting abomination." He lectured the 215 House Republicans who voted yes, declaring "you know you did wrong." DOGE initially set a goal of unearthing $2 trillion in spending cuts. It then slashed the threshold to $1 trillion. DOGE finally homed in on about $150 billion in cuts by the end of next year. And many of those cuts aren't even in effect because Congress has the power of the purse. That's where Congress comes in with a potential rescissions package. Most Republicans are appreciative of the efforts by DOGE and Musk. "I think this is the beginning and the whole conversation in Congress is changed because of it," said Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., on Fox. But DOGE evaluated "discretionary" spending. Congress has the "discretion" to spend or not spend certain money each year. That comes through the annual appropriations process. That's why GOPers are now using their "discretion." They intend to unwind some of that spending with a rescission plan. But the largest percentage of federal spending – by about two to one – is tied to entitlements like Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, plus interest on the debt. That spending is called "mandatory." House Republicans tried to address that slightly in the Big, Beautiful Bill since it dealt with Medicaid spending. But cuts to federal departments lie in the appropriations realm and falls on the discretionary side of the ledger. However, discretionary cuts via the Big, Beautiful Bill weren't going to happen. "Much of what DOGE has looked at is the discretionary spending," said Flood. "This is far more complicated than just doing it in reconciliation." And so here we are, with Republicans in Congress looking at the first major rescissions plan since 1993. "The House Freedom Caucus strongly supports these critical rescissions, and we will support as many more rescissions packages the White House can send us in the coming weeks and months," said the Freedom Caucus in a statement. "There is no excuse for a Republican House not to advance the first DOGE rescissions package the same week it is presented to Congress then quickly send it for passage in the Republican Senate so President Trump can sign it into law." The law requires the president to spend money which Congress approves. However, there are some loopholes where a President can "impound" money and not spend it. On CNN, Vought suggested that the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 "allows for a procedure called pocket rescissions later in the year to be able to bank some of these savings without the bill actually being passed." Vought signaled that President Trump would likely lean on that tool. But he wants to start with an initial rescissions request. A recissions plan requires a simple majority to pass the House. And, believe it or not, a simple majority in the Senate. There's no 60-vote requirement to break a filibuster. Moreover, the "motion to proceed" to start debate on a recessions package is "privileged." That means the Senate only needs 51 votes to begin the process. Many "motions to proceed" in the Senate need 60 yeas and can be subject to a filibuster. President Trump formally routed his recissions request to Capitol Hill on Tuesday. It aims to trim $9.4 billion dollars from public broadcasting and foreign aid programs. All of this is money which Musk targeted in his DOGE reviews. But these cuts only count if Congress approves them. "I want make sure you take the first tranche and see if it passes," said Vought on the targeted set of proposed spending reductions. "The wider you do in terms of a package, the harder it is to pass. And if it doesn't pass, this is the real world. And we will lose flexibility that we have to use executive tools to find other ways to make the DOGE cuts permanent." Lawmakers are starting to process the rescissions proposal. Especially since Republicans often talk a good game about slashing spending. "We'll see if Congress can step up to the plate," said Rep. Chip Roy, R-Tex., noting the political consequences of not green lighting the rescissions package. "(Members will have) to go campaign on why they want to continue to fund PBS, NPR, and a whole bunch of foreign policy and foreign funding that most Americans don't like. So you go explain it." Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., represents one of the most-Democratic leaning districts in the country. He worries about the PBS and NPR cuts. "I have a great rapport with Nebraska Public Radio and TV. I think they've been great to work with. And so that would be one I hope they don't put in," said Bacon. Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, flagged reductions to PEPFAR, short for the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. "I consider that to be possibly the most successful public health program that has ever been used in Africa and other parts of the world. So I do not support the reduction in PEPFAR," said Collins. It's unclear whether this opening bid to cut spending – minimal as it is – can make it through Congress. Lots of Republicans will sweat this. And these are just negligible cuts. Republicans extolled the work of DOGE. But if they want to eliminate spending, they have to put their vote where their favorite program is. We'll know more in a few weeks whether Republicans can approve the recissions package and rescind what some characterize as wasteful spending. Otherwise, they may need to rescind those campaign promises.
CNN
2 days ago
- Business
- CNN
White House formally sends its DOGE spending cuts request to Congress
The White House has sent its long-awaited spending cuts request to Congress as it seeks to formalize a slew of DOGE slashes to federal funding. The $9.4 billion package – known as 'rescissions' on Capitol Hill – would claw back previously appropriated government funding. The move to cancel the funding through Congress would insulate the administration from legal challenges related to its cuts to federal funding. As anticipated, the cuts target the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a small chunk of the federal budget that provides some public funding for NPR and PBS, as well as the United States Agency for International Development. This initial request, however, is far more limited in scope than the more than $1 trillion in spending cuts that DOGE has promised. The lengthy time it took the White House to send over just a first round of cuts underscores the uphill battle for even. Republican-led Congress to codify DOGE's work. Congress will have 45 days after the White House submits the request to consider it. It can pass both the House and Senate with a simple majority, meaning it could clear the chambers without Democratic support. House Speaker Mike Johnson vowed in statement Tuesday that 'the House will act quickly on this request.' 'This rescissions package reflects many of DOGE's findings and is one of the many legislative tools Republicans are using to restore fiscal sanity. Congress will continue working closely with the White House to codify these recommendations, and the House will bring the package to the floor as quickly as possible,' Johnson said in part. CNN has reached out to the Office of Management and Budget on the package. The Republican speaker had told reporters Monday that he expects there may be 'multiple' such packages coming to the hill in the next few months. 'It's a big priority for me,' Johnson said, adding that he didn't know yet if they would go through committee or come straight to the floor. As with all things, the challenge for him will be muscling the package through the House with his narrow majority. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said ahead of the White House transmitting the package that it was his 'full expectation that, as has been the case up until this point, they will confront strong and unified Democratic opposition in the House, struggle to get any bill out of the House of Representatives, and then it's dead in the United States Senate.' Trump has before sought to employ the maneuver to pull back funding. During his first administration, the Senate rejected a package that would have canceled $15 billion in unspent funds from the prior fiscal year.
Fox News
2 days ago
- Business
- Fox News
Trump sends $9.4 billion DOGE cuts proposal to Congress, targeting NPR, PBS
The clock will soon start ticking away on Congress to consider President Donald Trump's $9.4 billion request for federal spending cuts. House and Senate Republicans now have 45 days to codify the funding reductions. Trump is asking lawmakers to claw back federal funding from NPR, PBS, and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). It's the first of what could be several efforts by Congress to follow through on Elon Musk's work with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). The proposal is called a rescissions package, a mechanism allowing the White House to weigh in on Congress' yearly government appropriations process. The process was created under the 1974 Impoundment Control Act as a way to stop the president from unilaterally acting on government funding while giving the executive some say over the spending – albeit with congressional approval. House and Senate GOP leaders have pledged to work swiftly once they receive the White House's request. But lawmakers are also working up against another deadline, with Republicans hoping to finish Trump's "big, beautiful" tax and immigration bill by Fourth of July. The tax bill is being passed under a separate fiscal mechanism called budget reconciliation, which allows Congress to amend areas they normally could not touch via the annual appropriations process. But like reconciliation, rescissions allow the party in power to side-step the minority by lowering the Senate's threshold for passage to 51 instead of 60 votes. Rescissions debates are also capped at two hours in the House and 10 in the Senate. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Russell Vought told reporters after meeting with House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on Monday that more packages could be coming. "I want to see if it passes. I think we're very interested to make sure it passes both the House and the Senate, but we're very open to sending multiple bills," Vought said. Paul Winfree, founder of the Economic Policy Innovation Center (EPIC), told Fox News Digital he believed the White House was using this first package as a test run to see how DOGE cuts could be achieved. "This first rescissions package from President Trump is a test as to whether Congress has the ability deliver on his mandate by canceling wasteful spending through a filibuster-proof process," Winfree said. "If they can't, then it's a signal for the president to turn up the dial with other tools at his disposal." And while a wide swath of Republicans are likely to coalesce around cuts to NPR, PBS and USAID – areas long targeted by fiscal conservatives – multiple people told Fox News Digital they could foresee some issues with the GOP's razor-thin, three-seat House majority. "I get a sense that there will be some that don't want an ad written that they're defunding Big Bird," one House Republican told Fox News Digital. "They've earned cancellation, but I mean, there are some moderates in our conference." Meanwhile, conservative groups in the House are bearing down hard to get the bill passed. Both the House Freedom Caucus and Republican Study Committee released statements pushing for the spending cuts to be passed as soon as possible. The Freedom Caucus, whose position was first reported by Fox News Digital, called for the House to pass the bill as soon as this week.
Wall Street Journal
3 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump Seeks Congress's Approval for Package of DOGE Cuts
WASHINGTON—Elon Musk is gone, and the next act of streamlining government is now set to play out on Capitol Hill. The White House is sending Congress a $9.4 billion rescissions package Tuesday that would codify some spending cuts made by the Trump administration, effectively having lawmakers reverse spending they previously voted into law. The White House also is weighing the use of a separate, controversial process called impoundment to claw back funds, sidestepping the legislative branch and setting up a likely legal battle.
E&E News
3 days ago
- Business
- E&E News
Russ Vought plans to make DOGE cuts permanent
The Trump administration has plans to advance its desired spending cuts even if Congress won't cooperate, the head of the White House budget office said in an interview Sunday. Russ Vought, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, described the White House's plans to use 'executive tools' if necessary to cut federal spending. Vought's comments to CNN's 'State of the Union' on Sunday came as the administration is pushing Congress to formalize some of the cuts made by the DOGE government-slashing operation through a 'rescissions' bill. Asked whether the administration intends to ask Congress for approval for all the cuts done by DOGE, Vought replied, 'We might. We want to see how this first bill does. We want to make sure it's actually passed.' It represents the 'first of many rescissions bills,' he said. Advertisement Beyond using that process to formalize cuts through Congress, Vought said, 'we have executive tools.'
