White House Sends Budget Rescissions Proposal to Congress

The White House sent a $15.4 billion budget rescissions proposal to Congress on May 8, 2018, targeting spending cuts from ‘unobligated funds’ within several federal agencies and programs. The proposal does not propose any reductions from the fiscal year (FY) 2018 spending. The plan proposes to rescind $4.8 billion in unused funding from Department of Energy (DOE) loan programs that have not made any loans since 2011. These include the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) loan program, an Obama-era initiative to help domestic automakers, and another DOE innovative technology loan program for large renewable energy projects. Other proposed cuts include $252 million from funds to address the Ebola outbreak; $148 million from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to fight outbreaks of diseases; $16 million from Forest Service land acquisition program; $10 million from Environmental protection Agency (EPA) water quality research and support grants; $107 million from the Superstorm Sandy aid for developing emergency watershed management plans; and $7 billion from the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The proposal claims that these funds are “no longer needed for the purpose for which it was appropriated by Congress.” House Republicans introduced a spending cuts package to codify the President’s plan on May 9. “Returning this money to the treasury is the type of budgetary spring-cleaning that ensures our g...
Source: Public Policy Reports - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news