House GOP sets $50b target for cuts to budget

The Boston Globe reports:

House Republican leaders are pushing a plan to slice $50 billion from federal programs and enact a 2 percent across-the-board cut to all government accounts under congressional control, as they seek to quell conservative worries over runaway spending in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.


Though the details will be worked out in the coming weeks, the budget ax is likely to fall heaviest on programs such as Medicaid, food stamps, and federal student loans, with smaller trims to environmental, housing, and education programs. President Bush met with Republican congressional leaders yesterday at the White House to discuss areas where spending can be cut.

But GOP leaders are struggling to get the party's moderate members to sign off on the cuts, and Democrats say they are united against such reductions. House majority whip Roy Blunt, a Republican from Missouri, acknowledged yesterday that he's still trying to gather enough support for the plan to pass, and last night House leaders considered delaying a key vote on budget cuts scheduled for today.

Not many people in Congress want to cut spending ever.