Washington, D.C. – On Thursday, June 7, 2018, the House passed the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act, H.R. 3. This bill rescinds $15 billion from expired, unused federal programs. This money would be returned to the U.S. Treasury. Following the passage of the rescissions package, Congressman Randy Weber (R – Friendswood) released the following statement:

“Our budget is out of control. I’ve been preaching that for years. At the President’s request, we furthered the process of eliminating unspent, expired funding from federal programs. The request doesn’t amount to crumbs either – $15 billion is a meaningful and substantial sum of money. In passing the bill, we exercised our constitutional duty to be fiscally responsible with taxpayer money. Funds sitting in expired programs are not beneficial to anyone. Our bloated budget is in serious need of a full and proper in-depth review. There is still more work to be done, but this is at least a step in the right direction.”

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Rescissions are requested when further review of the budget shows an issue the President would like addressed. In this instance, unused funds in expired programs are clogging the budget and adding to our national debt. This type of request is not unprecedented. Ronald Reagan sent  rescissions requests to Congress; 214 were accepted. Bill Clinton sent requests as well; 111 were accepted.