Bureaucrats Warn of Dire Consequences If Republicans Pursue Budget at 2022 Spending Levels

The leaders of various government agencies have expressed concern about the dangers of deep expenditure cuts that are proposed in a Republican-backed budget. Almost 20 agencies, including the Departments of State, Treasury, Housing and Urban Development, Education, as well as the Social Security Administration, have written letters in recent weeks warning about the consequences of returning to 2022 spending levels for their offices next year.

The letters came in response to a request from Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), the top Democrat on the House Appropriations Committee. She sought information on the impact that freezing discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels would have on each agency. The official budget plan for the House Republicans is yet to be released. But, the letters come as Republicans show support for budget limitations amid some of the largest federal deficits in history that they say future generations cannot afford, with hardliners insisting to freeze discretionary spending in fiscal 2024 at the 2022 level while maintaining defense funding at present levels.

“I have received responses to most of my letters to cabinet secretaries and senior leaders outlining the dangers posed to the American people if we cut federal spending back to the 2022 level, and the numbers could not be clearer,” said ranking member DeLauro. “Those that seek to cut essential programs by at least 22 percent, and those that are pushing even more drastic cuts of 30 percent or more, would cause irreparable damage to our communities by gutting the programs every single American relies on. Those proposals are unrealistic, unsustainable, and unconscionable.”

The consequences of the proposed cuts are severe. Funding at fiscal 2022 levels for Head Start, a program for low-income families with preschool children, would eliminate “at least 170,000 slots for children,” and the Social Security Administration could lose “over 5,000 employees who are essential to processing retirement claims.” A conservative budget proposal that calls for cutting funds for Customs and Border Protection (CBP) employees would make the southern border less secure and limit the capacity to fight drug trafficking, claimed the White House.

Mr. Perry, Chair of the House Freedom Caucus (HFC), which proposed a conservative budget plan, called the White House’s response to their plan “Just more pearl-clutching.” Perry said, “fear and smear isn’t a pillar of policy—it’s propaganda.”

The Epoch Times reports that if the 2024 funding is reduced to 2022 levels, it would call “into question the United States’ foreign policy, national security, and development leadership and jeopardize U.S. national security.”

The warnings of the bureaucrats are indeed worrying, and the proposed cuts could have dire effects on several areas of government spending. It remains to be seen what the final Republican-backed budget would contain and how the Democrats would react in the coming days.

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