Righties to Unveil $2.5T in Spending Cuts

Proposal would cut or drastically shrink more than 50 programs
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 20, 2011 11:17 AM CST
Righties to Unveil $2.5T in Spending Cuts
Sen. Jim DeMint, R-S.C., talks with reporters near the Senate floor, on Capitol Hill in Washington Wednesday, Dec. 22, 2010, as they consider the New START Treaty.   (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

House Republicans are about to unveil a massive spending reduction bill that would slash $2.5 trillion in spending over the next 10 years. Rep. Jim Jordan, chair of the Republican Study Committee, will unveil his “Spending Reduction Act” at a Heritage Foundation speech today, the Daily Caller reports. The bill would eliminate or drastically shrink more than 50 government programs, and mandate that non-defense discretionary spending be dialed down to 2006 levels.

The programs being cut represent a relatively modest savings—it’s the discretionary spending pullback that accounts for the lion’s share--$2.3 trillion—of the anticipated haul. The proposal would also cut the federal workforce by 15% and freeze federal pay for five years. The bill is much more ambitious than the cuts proposed by the GOP’s “Pledge to America,” though it does include those recommendations in its first year. Jim DeMint will introduce a version of the bill in the Senate as well. (More Republican Study Committee stories.)

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