Office of Management and Budget Director Jacob Lew today plans to slam Republicans for what he will describe as their deep, unwarranted cuts in funding for a variety of programs. Yet he will insist that the GOP resist the temptation to raise the budget caps this year.
"The message is, 'It's your budget, live with it,' " quipped one administration official. Lew's message, to be delivered today in a speech at the Brookings Institution in Washington, is likely to be the opening salvo in an administration offensive against the GOP's budget blueprint and its evolving appropriations proposals.
White House officials are contemplating further avenues for making their case, including having President Clinton join the fray after he returns from vacation, according to an administration official.
Lew and other White House officials may make further overtures to the media in coming days and weeks to try to dismiss the GOP budget as unrealistic and untenable.
Lew will highlight what the White House views as unworkable cuts in spending on the environment, education, law enforcement, and programs for children and worker training. He plans to point in particular to GOP plans for the Labor-HHS spending bill, which would be cut on the order of about $10 billion.
"It's essentially a political document," the administration official said of the GOP budget, arguing that Republicans are hoping to leave some breathing room for a tax cut.
According to a draft White House analysis of GOP budget allocations, a document from which Lew will quote and which Clinton aides will seek to publicize in coming days, Republican proposals could cause up to 45,000 children to lose access to Head Start compared to the fiscal 1999 enacted level.
In addition, the White House claims, about 2,900 FBI and 1,400 border patrol agents could be cut, and 114,000 training and summer job opportunities for low income youth could be eliminated.
The document also highlights what the White House says are potential cutbacks in funding for Health Resources and Services Administration assistance for women, children and the uninsured, as well as for rental assistance and new housing units for low- income families.
Under the GOP plan, funding for 24 Environmental Protection Agency Superfund cleanups due to begin in FY2000 could be eliminated, and the National Park Service operating budget could be slashed by $265 million, according to the White House document.
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