Posted on 01/18/2017 6:42:41 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Donald Trump plans to hit the ground running when he takes office on Friday, assigning "landing teams" to coordinate with federal agencies to cut some department budgets by as much as 10% while slashing 20% from the federal workforce.
The cuts would target discretionary spending, not mandated programs such as Medicare or Social Security, the sources said.
The spending reductions are expected to be used to help pay for Trump's plan to boost the Pentagon's budget, tax cuts and some pet projects, potentially including the anti-immigration wall on the nation's southern border.
The teams also are looking at staffing cuts over four years through attrition, a hiring freeze and reorganization.
The plan is winning cheers in conservative, anti-tax and anti-spending corners in Washington that have long sought massive cuts in the bureaucracy.
Presidents rarely cut spending, choosing freezes instead. In the meantime, federal spending has reached historic levels. Trump has picked a budget hawk, Rep. Mick Mulvaney, to head the Office of Management and Budget, a clear sign that spending cuts are a top priority.
Still, Trump is likely to face a wall of opposition from Democrats and federal unions who consider much of the federal workforce on their side.
Many presidents have entered office with grand plans to cut the budget, only to see Congress fail to follow through. But perhaps more than any other recent president, Donald Trump enters the White House with a clear mandate to "drain the swamp." And a primal thrust of that effort will be to shrink the size of government.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
Defending the southern border is a “pet project”? Wow.
Anyone who doesn’t think that there is fat in the federal budget is not playing with a full deck.
Start with shitcanning anyone who’s been hired in the last 30 days.
Just show me the democrats sobbing so I can bask in their tears.
NEA......see ya real soon...
EPA......why because we don’t like you...
M O N E Y...
Yes! old!
KYPD
If the unemployment rate goes up because of a 20% cut in the federal work force, I’ll applaud it!
“Still, Trump is likely to face a wall of opposition from Democrats and federal unions who consider much of the federal workforce on their side.”
The wall of opposition is not in power. Let them yell.
DC needs a 40% unemployment rate like the rest of the country.
If federal workers want to take sides then they need to be ready for the consequences.
There are ways to cut non-discretionary spending also. Just start looking at the medical records of Social Security disability payments.
I wonder how much of that could be cut just by saying they were GOING to look at the records?
Start with Diversity Dept’s and you will save a yuge amount right there.
A start, but not enough.
Note, not once did I ever whine about cutting important corporate requirements due to the budget cuts, nor actually cut them.
A 10/10 cut EVERY year of this administration might start making real progress.
Those numbers are way too low.
Do it the GE way: require managers to rank their staff from top to bottom, no ties. Then RIF the bottom 10%.
Amazingly the same amount of work will get done!
And there will always be a “bottom 10%”.
I would think the writers at "American Thinker" would know better that to use trash phrases like that. First off, a border wall is far more than a "pet project;" it's a high-priority project needed to secure this nation's sovereignty. Second... "anti-immigrant wall?" Really??
Drain the swamp!
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