Federal Government Policy and Business

Trump Looks to Slash Agency Budget Increases He Just Signed Into Law

Government Executive: President Trump has said for weeks that the agreement he recently signed into law to set spending levels at agencies across government for fiscal 2018 provided far too much funding on the non-defense side of the ledger, and the White House is now considering its options to roll back some of those increases.

Trump, according to numerous reports, is working with Republican leadership in Congress to initiate a rescission process to walk back some of the spending boosts provided in the recent omnibus appropriations bill. The little-used procedure would require Trump to send to lawmakers a list of accounts and programs he felt Congress overfunded, giving Congress 45 days to act before the request expires and agencies must spend the money that lawmakers allocated. Once the bill has gone through committee or otherwise been discharged, it would face an expedited vote requiring a simple majority vote in both chambers of Congress.

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