President Trump on Tuesday officially asked Congress to rescind $15.4 billion in spending from previously approved funds, the largest single such request from a White House and the first in nearly two decades.
Congress has 45 days to approve the request in a measure that is not subject to a Senate filibuster.
The White House says the clawback is mostly aimed at unobligated funds, such as those leftovers in accounts for defunct programs. Scrapping unobligated funds does not reduce the deficit.
Some of the funds being targeted, however, would reduce expenditures.
“If enacted, these rescissions would decrease Federal outlays in the affected accounts by an estimated $3.0 billion,” Mick Mulvaney, director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a letter to the president on the request.
The White House hopes to pressure Democrats to vote for the package by saving more controversial clawbacks, such as those dealing with current spending levels, for a future request. – READ MORE
[give_form id=”79809″] [contentcards url=”http://thehill.com/policy/finance/386681-trump-requests-154b-spending-clawback” target=”_blank”]