Republican to propose spending cuts in CR legislation

House Appropriations Committee Chairman Rep. Hal Rogers (R-Ky.) today released a partial list of 70 drastic spending cuts that will be included in an upcoming continuing resolution bill. The legislation is to prevent the government from shutting down when the current resolution expires March 1.

The total spending cuts in Rogers’ legislation are estimated to exceed $74 billion and include $58 billion in nonsecurity discretionary reductions, according to a statement released by the committee.

Some of programs that would experience the biggest cuts in the legislation include a $2 billion cut to job training programs, a $1.7 billion cut to the General Services Administration's Federal Buildings Fund, a $1.6 billion cut to the Environmental Protection Agency, a $1.3 billion cut to community health centers, and a $1.1 billion cut to the Office of Science.

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“Make no mistake, these cuts are not low-hanging fruit,” Rogers said in the statement. “We have taken a wire brush to the discretionary budget and scoured every program to find real savings that are responsible and justifiable to the American people.”

Rogers also noted that his proposed cuts will likely spur opposition. “As I have often said, every dollar we cut has a constituency, an industry, an association and individual citizens who will disagree with us,” he said.

The National Treasury Employees Union, for one, moved quickly to express its concerns with Rogers’ expected proposal. “These serious cuts come at a time when agencies already face staffing shortage[s] and an ever increasing workload,” said NTEU President Colleen Kelley. “Moreover, these cuts would jeopardize agencies’ ability to fulfill critical missions and result in billions in lost tax revenue.”

A full list of spending cuts will be released when Rogers formally introduces his legislation.