House GOP to take first step toward reducing spending to 2008 levels

House Republicans are planning to reduce non-security discretionary spending to 2008 levels over the next five years, and will take up a rule instructing the Budget Committee to take the first step toward this goal.

On Wednesday, the House Rules Committee will mark up a resolution that instructs the Budget Committee to publish spending allocations for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, keeping in mind the goal of shrinking spending levels through 2015. These allocations will be published in the Congressional Record.

H.Res. 5, which the House approved earlier this month, already instructs the Budget Committee to publish budget allocations from 2011 to 2015. The resolution to be considered on Wednesday (which is not yet numbered) instructs the Budget Committee only to publish 2011 allocations.

The full text of the new resolution reads as follows:

“Resolved, That, pursuant to section 3(b)(1) of H.Res. 5, the Chair of the Committee on the Budget shall include in the Congressional Record an allocation contemplated by section 302(a) for the Committee on Appropriations for the remainder of fiscal year 2011 that assumes a transition to non-security spending at fiscal year 2008 levels.”