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| Snow Sees Spending Slashed in '06 Budget |
| 2004-12-20 |
| The Bush administration will seek to slash government spending next year, U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow said on Sunday, but he was less specific than the president in predicting how quickly the deficit would fall. Snow, who was asked by President Bush to stay during Bush's second term after heavy speculation he would be replaced, said the administration's budget proposal early next year would rely heavily on spending cuts. "It will be a tight, disciplined budget with spending under disciplined controls," he said in an interview on CNN's "Late Edition" program. "Everything is being looked at and put under the microscope." Snow declined to say what programs are being targeted or how soon Bush would meet his goal of cutting the deficit in half. But he said the budget proposal for fiscal year 2006, which begins next Oct. 1, would actually reduce current spending on some programs, not just slow their expected levels of inflationary increase, which often passes for budget-cutting in Washington. The Pentagon is among the departments under White House pressure to restrain spending. "All agencies are being asked to identify programs that are duplicative, outdated or don't produce results," said Chad Kolton, spokesman for the White House Office of Management and Budget. "But decisions on funding won't be final until the president actually submits his budget next year." The Pentagon is still expected to receive an increase in funding, but the increase is not expected to be as large as years past under Bush. Kolton said "the needs of our troops in the field will be fully provided through our supplemental request next year." The emergency budget request for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan is expected to top $80 billion. ... |
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