Commentary

99 Federal Programs Face the Axe

Well, it’s not as much as the Administration wanted, but it’s a start:

House-passed government spending bills would shut down 37 of the 99 federal programs the [Bush] administration recommended for elimination in 2006. About two-thirds of those are Education Department programs. Those bills also target another 62 federal programs for elimination that the administration had not recommended be scrapped. […] In its 2006 budget proposal, the administration targeted the Education Department for the most program cancellations. Of 48 programs the administration proposed to cut, the House agreed to 21. The administration’s proposed program cuts would have saved more than $8 billion, while the House plan would save $4.5 billion. So far, the Senate has passed only the Interior, Energy, and Legislative Branch spending bills. Those bills would ax at least four programs proposed for elimination by the administration: Interior’s Jobs in the Woods and Water Quality Cooperative Agreements, and Energy’s Nuclear Energy Plant Optimization and Nuclear Energy Plant Research Initiative. The House, however, disagreed with the Senate and the administration to cut the Water Quality Cooperative Agreements program.

(from the Federal Times)