The Blubber

The White House is expected to send a package of proposed spending cuts to Congress next week, according to senior Republican officials who informed several House members on Wednesday.

The forthcoming “rescissions” bill, confirmed by two Republican lawmakers who spoke on the condition of anonymity, follows extended internal discussions over how to formalize reductions proposed by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an initiative led by Elon Musk. Two senior administration officials also confirmed the plan on Wednesday.

The $9.4 billion package represents a portion of the broader DOGE proposals, which fall short of the multi-trillion dollar reduction goals initially outlined by the initiative. According to the two Republican sources, the cuts will include funding reductions for NPR, PBS, and various foreign aid programs that were already reduced under the previous Trump administration.

House Speaker Mike Johnson wrote on X (formerly Twitter) that the House is prepared to act on the DOGE initiative’s recommendations, stating that the goal is to reduce federal spending further. He did not specify when the package would be submitted or what exactly it would include.

Congressional Republicans have been awaiting the formal White House request for more than six weeks, after officials signaled plans for a package exceeding $9 billion in proposed spending rollbacks.

While the proposed cuts represent only a small portion of the approximately $1.6 trillion in annual discretionary spending, the White House budget office has not commented on the proposal.

“We’ve all expressed interest in moving forward on rescissions and hope the administration follows through,” Senate Minority Whip John Thune said in an interview last week before lawmakers left for recess.

A public campaign calling for formalization of DOGE's proposals has gained momentum recently, supported by Republican lawmakers such as Sen. Mike Lee of Utah and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis. The campaign has also seen increased visibility on the social media platform X.

In a CBS News interview on Tuesday, Elon Musk criticized the recent comprehensive spending bill passed by the House and awaiting Senate consideration, expressing concern that it increases the deficit and could counteract the DOGE initiative’s efforts.

“A bill can be big or it can be efficient,” Musk said during the interview. “But it’s difficult for it to be both.”

Trump administration official Stephen Miller responded in a post on X, stating that the types of cuts Musk is advocating are more appropriately addressed through rescissions packages or separate appropriations bills.

Hours later, House Republicans were informed that the rescissions package would be sent soon.

Speaker Johnson supported Miller’s comments, emphasizing that the proposed cuts from DOGE focus on agency spending, whereas the broader GOP budget plan includes reductions to programs such as Medicaid.

Although it may be possible to include agency-level cuts in the larger spending bill, House Republicans did not incorporate those actions into the budget resolution they approved last month.