WASHINGTON - Sens. Mike Lee (R-UT), Ron Johnson (R-WI), Pat Toomey (R-PA), Joni Ernst (R-IA), David Perdue (R-GA), John Kennedy (R-LA), Rand Paul (R-KY), Jeff Flake (R-AZ), and Ben Sasse (R-NE) introduced the Spending Cuts to Expired and Unnecessary Programs Act Thursday, a bill that would formally rescind the $15 billion in unneeded spending identified by the White House on May 8, 2018.

"Yes, a $15 billion spending reduction is a drop in the bucket compared to a $15 trillion debt," Sen. Lee said. "But we have to start cutting spending somewhere. Because if we don't, if we continue to allow federal government spending to grow faster than the economy as a whole, at some point economic reality will force us to do so in a much more painful manner later."

"Our country doesn't have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem," Sen. Johnson said. "While these cuts won't solve our debt problems - far from it - they are an important step in the right direction by eliminating unnecessary and excessive spending throughout the federal government."

"This proposal will help end the deception where Congress over funds popular programs like CHIP only to shift the excess money to unrelated programs when the American people aren't looking," Sen. Toomey said. "It is a modest but important step in the direction of honest budgeting and protecting taxpayers."

"Rescinding these dollars now ensures that Congress doesn't use them as a budget gimmick later," Sen. Ernst said. "This rescissions bill is a common-sense initiative to ensure that the federal government is a better and more effective steward of hard-working Americans' money."

"We are past the tipping point in this debt crisis," said Sen. Perdue. "Today, most of the money we spend on our military, our veterans, and domestic discretionary programs is borrowed money. This will get worse and it's time for Washington to come to grips with this reality. President Trump has-that's why his team is proposing to cut these unused and expired government programs. These are simple cuts, arguably the easiest we could make, and they should be supported by every member in Congress."

"Washington has long been spending tax dollars like a bunch of drunken sailors with zero regard for the debt we are loading onto future generations. This bill is a small step but a good start towards restoring a little fiscal sanity to the swamp," said Sen. Kennedy.

"Unfortunately, the Senate was unable to cut one penny from every dollar through a budget bill I proposed last week. I am hopeful they will support cutting half a penny from every dollar through this rescissions package," Sen. Paul said.

The Congressional Budget and Impoundment Control Act 1974 empowers the president to send a rescission message to Congress specifying the accounts, programs, and amounts to be rescinded. The funds are then locked down for 45 days allowing Congress to either approve, modify, or ignore the president's rescission request.

According to Senate rules, all rescission legislation must go to committee where the committee then has 25 days to act before the legislation can be discharged to the floor. By introducing this legislation today, that 25-day window for discharge will run out before the 45-day window for congressional action.

From the House Republican Study Committee:

President Trump transmitted a special message to Congress reporting 38 rescissions totaling $15.4 billion. This is the largest single rescissions package ever proposed. &

RSC Members are commending the President and OMB Director Mulvaney for presenting this package to Congress. They believe it should be quickly passed through both Chambers and sent back to the President for signature. The Impoundment Control Act is just one of many tools conservatives can use to fulfill a promise to the American people and begin the process of getting federal spending under control. Many Members would like to see this as the first of many rescission packages.

In a recent poll of its members, 100% of RSC Members said the House should work with the President to pass a rescission bill and 71% said they would like to see rescissions reach over $60 billion.

What RSC Members are saying:

"When I saw the [$11 billion] amount reported this morning, my reaction was that it was a good start but it is certainly not enough. And [I] would hope that this effort would lead to a larger effort to overhaul significant federal spending in the months ahead before the end of the Congress. That is certainly what my district expects us to do & to rein in federal spending."
-Rep. Jim Banks

"Congress should pursue another rescission package that would cancel spending in the omnibus signed March 23 by Trump. There is nothing that stops them from delivering another rescission package in a month that includes money from this omnibus,"
-Rep. Ken Buck

"There's no denying it, Washington has a spending problem. I support President Trump's decision to cut wasteful government programs and roll back over $15 billion in spending."
-Rep. Kevin Brady

"Rescissions, Great tool to clean out the spending underbrush. Hasn't been used in almost 20 yrs. And it gets us around the Senate filibuster! A big win for the American people. Thanks @MickMulvaneyOMB & @POTUS"
-Rep. Tom Graves