OMB discloses budget cuts found by Cabinet members
Agency heads identified $102 million in fiscal 2009 cuts, and another $140 million savings for fiscal 2010.
The Office of Management and Budget on Monday cataloged $102 million in fiscal 2009 budget cuts identified by agency heads who were challenged by President Obama in April to find at least $100 million to trim.
The Cabinet officers went one step further and identified another $140 million in cuts for fiscal 2010. According to OMB's Web site, the savings in the current fiscal year come from 77 programs in 15 agencies.
In a memo to Obama, OMB Director Peter Orszag and Cabinet Secretary Christopher Lu said the cuts span everything from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration saving $1,000 a year by compiling and distributing its daily news stories digitally to a Defense Department plan to save $2 million in fiscal 2010 by switching to commercial jet fuel.
At the time that he challenged the Cabinet to make the cuts, Obama acknowledged they would be a "drop in the bucket" for the overall budget, but help set the right tone.