Obama ‘challenges’ Cabinet to cut fraction of spending

President Obama is asking his Cabinet to cut a total of $100 million in spending in a small effort to show that he can be fiscally responsible.

During his first Cabinet meeting as president Monday morning, Obama planned to issue a “challenge” to administration officials to find those savings over the next 90 days, the White House said.

{mosads}Federal agencies have already begun to find savings under Obama, the White House said. The Treasury Department plans to save $16 milllion annually by cracking down on payments to unqualified farms. The Department of Homeland Security expects to save up to $47 milllion annually through making bulk purchases of computer software licenses.

The administration said it expects to find millions more in savings immediately by using electronic documents instead of paper, by cutting down on travel costs and by consolidating department posts.

The effort seems to be aimed at showing that Obama is serious about paring down the federal deficit, which is projected to reach $1.8 trillion this year. While the budgets proposed by the president and Democrats in Congress would reduce the deficit by two-thirds within five years, Obama has come under pressure from Republicans and centrists in his own party to reduce those deficits further.

But Obama’s proposed savings of $100 million would amount to just a tiny portion of federal spending, which is expected to top $4 trillion this year under the president’s policies. Angela Kuck, a spokeswoman for Republicans on the House Budget Committee, noted that Obama’s proposed savings would be just .002 percent of 2009 spending and just .01 percent of spending in the $787 billion stimulus.

Obama, in his weekend radio address, said that his budget and responsible spending are essential to an economic recovery.

“If we’re to going to rebuild our economy on a solid foundation, we need to change the way we do business in Washington,” he said. “We need to restore the American people’s confidence in their government — that it is on their side, spending their money wisely, to meet their families’ needs.”