If President Donald Trump, or anyone else for that matter, wants to make a small but meaningful election-year dent in the federal budget deficit, estimated to hit $804 billion in the current fiscal year--and $1 trillion by 2020--there are plenty of ways to do it.
Here's what the president is actually doing: He is asking Congress to approve a $15.4 billion package of budgetary "rescissions." As exercises in fiscal discipline go, this is a pretty hollow one. Basically, the president would eliminate legal spending authority that had mostly never been used in the first place. For example, the plan "rescinds" $4.3 billion for an Energy Department advanced technology vehicle loan program that hasn't lent any money since 2011. There is some value in cleaning up government accounts this way, to prevent future budget gimmicks, but no effect on current outlays; the White House's own submission to Congress notes the package results in only $3 billion of actual spending cuts.
The backstory here is that many Republicans on the Hill are embarrassed by the massive $1.3 trillion omnibus appropriations deal their leaders cut with the Democrats back in March, which hiked spending $300 billion over previously planned levels, with no way to pay for it except more borrowing. Trump's proposal gives them something to vote for that at least seems like a budget cut, yet without actually requiring their constituents to accept fewer services or benefits.
Editorial on 05/12/2018