Speaker Johnson Outlines Deficit Plan To Codify DOGE Cuts

With the House Rules Committee meeting Tuesday to send the White House’s rescissions package to the floor, Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., outlined to reporters how Republicans plan to launch “a multifront war against the deficit.”

“Every dollar matters. We are serious about this. The Republican Party is doing everything we can to be careful stewards,” Johnson said during a news conference. “This rescission package is a critical step, and it’s one of many. There’ll be several of these that will come from the White House who work together with the administration to cut out all the fraud, waste and abuse.”

The legislation, compiled by the Office of Management and Budget, requests the cancellation of $9.4 billion in already appropriated federal spending deemed wasteful by the Department of Government Efficiency. This includes $8.3 billion for “woke” or non-lifesaving foreign assistance and $1.1 billion for “politically biased” public broadcasting systems.

Johnson also praised the more than $1.6 trillion in deficit-reducing savings found in the House’s massive budget resolution – also known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act – that Senate Republicans are now wrangling with.

Democrats have criticized Johnson and others for painting the legislation as fiscally responsible when budget watchdogs estimate it will add trillions to the debt and deficit. The 10-year policy megabill extends the expiring 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, resulting in trillions of lost revenue, and fulfills President Donald Trump’s energy, border security and defense agenda.