House Passes $15 Billion Cut in Government Funding

The House passed a motion to draw back $15 billion of government funding. The initiative was pushed forward by President Donald Trump and will go through despite the fact that the funds had already been confirmed and approved.

White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders addressed the motion recently: “President Trump and this Administration are fully committed to protecting taxpayers, and Senate passage of this legislation is critical to reducing wasteful, unnecessary spending and making our Federal Government more efficient, effective, and accountable.”

The decision has had a mixed reception. Most democrats have stated their concern, given that the cut could end up hurting future projects that need funding. The fact that the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP)  has been considered part of the non-necessary funds has also raised controversy.

House Majority Whip Steve Scalise refuted the concern for the CHIP program, stating: “[the House] overfunded the CHIP program, and so as that surplus money was identified, we made sure that that money will be able to be used to reduce the deficit and go to other things.” He also made reference to the fact that most politicians who oppose the cuts in the program were opposed to its creation in the first place.

Representative Nita Lowey, meanwhile, stated: “The nearly $15 billion in rescissions cut numerous efforts to create jobs, grow our economy, and strengthen our communities. It cuts funding for the economic development administration, and for community development financial institutions. Both of which create jobs in rural areas and distress communities.” Lowey also commented on the cuts for CHIP, saying that “Targeting CHIP for a rescission prevents Congress from reinvesting in other priorities like child and maternal health, early childhood education, biomedical research and our community health centers.”

The president had been on Twitter promoting the decision to cut spending prior to the House’s ruling: “The HISTORIC Rescissions Package we’ve proposed would cut $15,000,000,000 in Wasteful Spending! We are getting our government back on track.”

Trump had previously discussed the subject with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, who argues that the funding cuts will help the Administration handle its budget more efficiently and demonstrate respect and care to tax payers. He also used the House’s decision as an opportunity to blame the spending on Democrat senators. He tweeted: “Imagine how much wasteful spending we’d save if we didn’t have Chuck and Nancy standing in our way! For years, Democrats in Congress have depleted our military and busted our budgets on needless spending, and to what end? No more.”

It is still unclear whether the Senate will follow the House’s actions and move the cuts forward. Some senators argue that, since the money in hand has been left unspent and is “sitting around,” there is no reason for the Senate not to support it. However, most senators have chosen to stay neutral on the subject, saying that they will evaluate it when a more appropriate time comes.

The funding cuts are of historic nature—in fact, they’re the largest presidential rescission since the seventies, when budgetary processes were still being evaluated and settled. It has been almost twenty years since the last presidential rescission, which occurred at the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency.

Featured Image via: Flickr/Gage Skidmore