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Budget trick to control spending
Story Date: 4/10/2018
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Source: POLITICO'S MORNING AGRICULTURE, 4/9/18
If the president wants to take an ax to federal spending, there is an existing tool in his arsenal, known as a presidential rescission, Pro Budget's Kaitlyn Burton and Sarah Ferris report.
"This would be kind of rolling the hand grenade down the aisle," Bill Hoagland, a senior vice president at the Bipartisan Policy Center and former GOP budget staffer, said of the potential blow to certain program budgets. Trump administration officials have been in talks with House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) recently on a rescission package. The intention is to settle Trump's fury over last month's $1.3 trillion spending bill, H.R. 1625 (115).
Little used but powerful: The tactic, once described as a "distant cousin" of the line-item veto, hasn't been used in 25 years. If a majority of Republicans get on board, it could allow governmentwide spending cuts with a simple majority vote in both chambers.
"This would be historic," Hoagland added, noting that rescissions are hardly ever used solely for spending cuts, and are typically meant for shifting money between programs. Still, even if Republicans on Capitol Hill do agree to some rescissions, it's a complex path forward.
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