Trump announces ‘nickel plan’, asks administration heads to cut budgets by 5% or more

President Donald Trump asked the members of his cabinet to cut at least 5% of their budgets for the next fiscal year in an effort he termed the “nickel plan.”

“I ask each of you to come back with a 5% budget cut from your various departments,” Trump said Wednesday in a cabinet meeting. “We may do another nickel plan next year too.”

The president’s instructions referenced Senator Mike Enzi’s “penny plan” which proposed to balance the budget within 5 years by simply reducing spending by 1% per year, or one cent of every dollar. Trump is pushing to get all five years of savings up front in his “nickel plan” and may even ask for similar cuts next year.

The president’s proposal comes as Congress and the White House increasingly face criticism for increasing federal deficits in a year where the Treasury took in more money than it ever has before.

While Democrats place the blame on the tax cuts, record tax revenues say otherwise. It’s spending that’s the problem, and President Trump is planning to reduce it where he can. Perhaps Congress will see to doing something similar.

Of course, Congressional Democrats will fight cuts to any government spending other than defense or border security – two things Congress is actually supposed to handle. So if conservatives want to see spending cuts and increased fiscal responsibility in Congress, they should vote early and drag two conservative family members or friends with them.