New chief of staff: More cuts could be needed beyond freeze

The White House acknowledges that more cuts are needed beyond the spending freeze President Obama proposed, chief of staff William Daley said Sunday.

Daley, in his first Sunday show appearance since taking office, said that the Obama administration understands that, if it wants to balance the budget, more cutbacks will be necessary beyond the five-year freeze in domestic discretionary spending the president laid out in his State of the Union address.

“It will take a tremendous amount more than that,” Daley said on “Face the Nation” when asked if more cuts would be needed beyond the freeze.

Obama proposed the five-year freeze on Tuesday, which the White House said will save $400 billion over that period. Republicans have rejected those cuts as inadequate, though, and will press for spending rollbacks to 2008 levels, or beyond.

The White House and House Republicans are expected to work on unveiling their respective budget proposals in the next month, and those are expected to paint dramatically different pictures of the budgetary situation.

In addition to the freeze, Obama called in his speech for more spending on education, research, infrastructure and technology — spending that Republicans have disregarded as little more than new “stimulus.”

Daley, drawing on his business experience, argued that it was most prudent for the government to make new investments while simultaneously making cuts. Obama’s eventual budget is expected to reflect those priorities, though it’s unclear whether those proposals will survive in the Republican House. Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Sunday there’s “no limit” to how much the GOP House could cut.

“Let’s see exactly the cuts they’re talking about,” Daley said of the Republican proposals. “We all agree there must be cuts to this government. And again, you’re going to see this president lay out a very substantial cut already.”