GovernmentExecutive.com

President Bush will request a supplemental spending bill for fiscal 2005 military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan -- but the request will not be made until calendar year 2005, relieving Congress of a potentially rancorous election-year debate.

The announcement was made by Office of Management and Budget Director Josh Bolten, who briefed reporters Monday on the president's fiscal 2005 budget. Bolten reaffirmed the administration's commitment not to make any further supplemental requests for fsical 2004 funding for military operations beyond that approved by Congress last year.

The budget forecasts a deficit during the current fiscal year of $521 billion, falling to $364 billion for fiscal 2005, not including the expected supplemental request. Nevertheless, Bolten said the administration remains on course to hit its goal of cutting the deficit in half in five years, saying that by fiscal 2008 and fiscal 2009, any remaining costs in Afghanistan and Iraq are expected to be part of the regular budget.

With conservatives grumbling that Bush is not doing enough to rein in spending, Bolten said the president is calling for the elimination of 65 "major" programs -- resulting in a one-year savings of $4.9 billion -- and reducing financing for an additional 63. To enforce fiscal discipline, the president will propose to renew caps on discretionary spending and the so-called pay/go rules for mandatory spending, Bolten said, so that any increase in mandatory spending must be paid for with mandatory spending cuts. The caps will apply to all discretionary spending, including funding for defense and homeland security.

Bolten also clarified that Bush wants to reduce the deficit in half in terms of its percentage of the economy, although he noted the current forecast shows the deficit halved as a raw number as well. But Bush's budget does not include his plan to reform Social Security with private accounts, which could have large upfront costs. And though the budget does not tackle huge possible costs beyond its five-year window -- such as making recent tax cuts permanent or reducing the alternative minimum tax -- Bolten said he expects the deficit to continue downward after five years.

Bolten asserted that Bush's failure to directly mention retirement and "lifetime" savings accounts during his State of the Union speech is not a sign that Bush will fail to push for the proposals, saying that -- along with making recent tax cuts permanent -- the accounts are a "top priority" for Treasury Secretary Snow. Bolten also said Medicare actuaries at the Health and Human Services Department "had different estimates all along" from those of the Congressional Budget Office about the cost of the Medicare prescription drug bill signed last year, but they had not "completed their estimate until well after" the bill was signed. The budget predicts the legislation will cost $534 billion over 10 years, far more than the $400 billion lawmakers assumed they were approving based on estimates by CBO.