U.S. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson (R-LA) speaks to the media after the House narrowly passed a bill forwarding President Donald Trump's agenda at the U.S. Capitol on May 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)
Presidential administrations send "budget requests" to Congress. This is the opposite. An administration can send a "recissions request" to Congress, too. And that’s what Budget Director Russ Vought is doing this week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., is intent on moving fast.
"I'd like to turn it around as quickly as possible," said Johnson. "There may be multiple rescissions packages coming and we’ll process them as quickly as we can. It’s a big priority for me."
Congressional conservatives and Elon Musk were not pleased with the relative paucity of spending cuts in the Big, Beautiful Bill.
Musk told CBS he was "disappointed" in the legislation.
"Which increases the budget deficit, not decreases it. And it undermines the work that the DOGE team is doing," said Musk about the hallmark of President Trump’s agenda.
By Tuesday morning, the world’s richest man incinerated the bill on X and chastised most Republicans in Congress.
Musk characterized the legislation as "a disgusting abomination." He lectured the 215 House Republicans who voted yes, declaring "you know you did wrong."
SCOOP: HOUSE FREEDOM CAUCUS DRAWS BATTLE LINES AS WHITE HOUSE READIES $9.4B DOGE SPENDING CUTS
DOGE initially set a goal of unearthing $2 trillion in spending cuts. It then slashed the threshold to $1 trillion. DOGE finally homed in on about $150 billion in cuts by the end of next year. And many of those cuts aren’t even in effect because Congress has the power of the purse.
That’s where Congress comes in with a potential rescissions package.
Most Republicans are appreciative of the efforts by DOGE and Musk.
"I think this is the beginning and the whole conversation in Congress is changed because of it," said Rep. Mike Flood, R-Neb., on Fox.
But DOGE evaluated "discretionary" spending. Congress has the "discretion" to spend or not spend certain money each year. That comes through the annual appropriations process. That’s why GOPers are now using their "discretion." They intend to unwind some of that spending with a rescission plan.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaking at the Senate Appropriations hearing to examine disaster funding needs on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (IMAGN)
Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Susan Collins, R-Maine, flagged reductions to PEPFAR, short for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.
"I consider that to be possibly the most successful public health program that has ever been used in Africa and other parts of the world. So I do not support the reduction in PEPFAR," said Collins.
It’s unclear whether this opening bid to cut spending – minimal as it is – can make it through Congress. Lots of Republicans will sweat this. And these are just negligible cuts. Republicans extolled the work of DOGE. But if they want to eliminate spending, they have to put their vote where their favorite program is.
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We’ll know more in a few weeks whether Republicans can approve the recissions package and rescind what some characterize as wasteful spending. Otherwise, they may need to rescind those campaign promises.
Chad Pergram currently serves as a senior congressional correspondent for FOX News Channel (FNC). He joined the network in September 2007 and is based out of Washington, D.C.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-push-spending-cancellations-elon-musk-conservatives-demand-deeper-budget-cuts