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President Donald J. Trump is Protecting American Taxpayer Dollars

May 08, 2018

"Our moral duty to the taxpayer requires us to make our government leaner and more accountable." – President Donald J. Trump

REQUEST FOR RESCISSIONS: President Donald J. Trump is requesting that Congress rescind billions of dollars in excessive spending.

  • President Trump is requesting that Congress rescind more than $15 billion in budget authority, in line with his commitment to use every tool at his disposal to rein in out-of-control Federal spending.
    • The President's request is the first of several upcoming rescissions packages aimed at cutting Federal spending.
    • President Trump is proposing the largest single rescissions request in history pursuant to the Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act of 1974 (ICA).
  • Under the ICA, the President has the authority to request rescissions and his proposals are eligible for expedited consideration by Congress.
    • Democratic and Republican Presidents have used the ICA to propose nearly $76 billion in spending cuts since the law was enacted.
    • Upon the passage of the ICA in 1974, each President from Gerald Ford to Bill Clinton successfully used the ICA to rescind Federal funds.

CONFRONTING IRRESPONSIBLE SPENDING: The President's rescissions request puts American taxpayers first by addressing irresponsible Federal spending.

  • President Trump's first rescissions package targets spending that is unnecessary, unused, or cannot be used for its original purpose.
    • Some of the funds included in the President's request were appropriated many years ago, but have never been used.
  • At the President's direction, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) worked to identify wasteful spending that should be rescinded.
  • Funds in President Trump's first proposed rescissions package include:
    • $4.3 billion from the Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing Loan Program, which has not made a loan since 2011.
    • $523 million from the Title 17 Innovative Technology Loan Guarantee Program, which had its authority to make new loan guarantees lapse in 2011.
    • $800 million from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, which is in excess of the funds needed in fiscal years (FY) 2018 or 2019 and will receive a new appropriation of $10 billion in 2020.
    • $252 million in excess funds remaining from the 2015 Ebola outbreak response, an epidemic the World Health Organization declared to be over in 2016.
    • $133 million from the Railroad Unemployment Insurance Extended Benefits program that expired in 2012.
    • $148 million from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, including funds for outbreak response for disease incidents that have been resolved.

Donald J. Trump, President Donald J. Trump is Protecting American Taxpayer Dollars Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/node/335976

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