Bachmann says she's found $450 billion in budget cuts By Vicki Needham - 01/07/11 03:02 PM ET As House Republicans seek upwards of $100 billion in spending cuts, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) said Friday that her staff has found about $450 billion to slash from the federal budget — about half of all discretionary spending.
"My staff and I sat down, we've looked at the federal budget, and just our first swipe across the budget, so to speak, we've come up with about $450 billion worth of cuts,” she said on ABC’s "Top Line."
She didn't outline specific cuts but said each federal agency would see its budget trimmed.
"They aren't painless, they do require sacrifice, but it’s from every level; from Commerce to Agriculture to Defense, you name the area of the budget, we've gone in to look at it," she said. "Because I don't like the idea of just across-the-board cuts, because if there are people getting oxygen masks to stay alive, I don't want to cut that budget."
Discretionary spending makes up about one-third of the entire federal budget, slightly more than $1 trillion.
“But on the other hand, if there is money set aside for trips for bureaucrats to go and have a retreat somewhere, that's something that we can cut. So we're trying to be picking and choosing with priorities.”
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) said Thursday that he still wants to cut about $60 billion in spending through fiscal year 2011 and potentially $100 billion through 2012.
