Immediate Action to Cut Spending Needed to Help Spark Economy, Boost American Job Creation, GOP Leader Argues

Contact: Michael Steel, Kevin Smith, 202-225-4000 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 9 /Standard Newswire/ -- In a meeting at the White House this morning, House Republican Leader John Boehner (R-OH) asked President Obama to use his presidential rescissions authority to force Congress to immediately begin cutting wasteful Washington spending, and pledged that House Republicans will support him if he does.   

"Immediate action to address Washington's out-of-control spending is needed to spark the economy and provide greater certainty to small businesses alarmed by Washington's spending, taxing, and borrowing," Boehner said.  "We cannot afford to simply punt the spending issue to a commission that won't even release its recommendations until the end of the year.  If President Obama will use his authority to force Congress to start cutting spending now, Republicans will stand with him and help him get it done."

In a letter sent to President Obama last week, Boehner and House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (R-VA) asked the president to invoke his authority under the Impoundment Control Act of 1974 to submit specific proposals rescinding spending already in place.  Boehner and Cantor pledged that if the president grants their request and chooses to use this authority, which has been invoked 1,178 times by previous presidents, they will introduce each proposal as a stand-alone bill in the House of Representatives. 

"Here in the House of Representatives, there is no shortage of opportunities to vote on bills increasing spending or creating new programs, but very seldom do we consider bills to actually reduce spending or eliminate programs,"  Boehner and Cantor wrote last week.  "Since increasing the debt limit by $290 billion on December 16, the House has not considered one bill to reduce the national debt.  And now the House has voted to increase the debt limit by another $1.9 trillion.  We believe America can no longer afford to have its elected representatives delay action on proposals to reduce excessive spending."

By taking this route, GOP leaders note, President Obama could force Congress to debate the spending reductions he has proposed as part of his budget.  Boehner and Cantor pledged that if Democrats refuse to act on the bills containing the president's spending cuts, Republicans would seize on the authority in the 1974 law that allows 88 House lawmakers to force a floor vote on the rescission bills.

The Boehner-Cantor letter follows a White House meeting in December when Republicans told President Obama that Washington should cut spending now, just as working families and small businesses are.  Since 1974, presidents from both parties have used rescission authority to submit 1,178 rescissions totaling $76 billion. Congress, under both Democratic and Republican control, has approved 461 of these rescissions totaling $25 billion.  President Reagan proposed the highest number of rescission in one year (245 in 1985) and the highest dollar value ($15.4 billion in 1981).