Washington, D.C.- Senator Ron Johnson (WI)  today recommended more than $1.4 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years, as the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (the ‘supercommittee’) begins its work.

Johnson stated:

“I serve as the Ranking Republican on the Homeland Security Subcommittee on Oversight of Government Management, with jurisdiction over the management, efficiency, effectiveness and economy of all agencies and departments of the Federal government. I’ve had my staff review the findings of many agencies and individuals who have already recommended significant savings. Based on that review, and combined with our own work, we are providing these recommendations as the ‘supercommittee’ begins its work.

“The ‘supercommittee’ is charged with coming up with $1.2 to $1.5 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years – an amount that is insufficient either to recover our nation’s credit rating, or to fix our long-term fiscal challenges. It is past time for Congress to get serious about our spending crisis, and impose fiscal restraint. To help advance this process, we have identified more than $1.4 trillion in spending cuts over the next ten years - drawn just from one congressional subcommittee’s jurisdiction.

“These spending cuts can be adopted right away – without waiting for the ‘supercommittee’ to act. To protect this nation’s fiscal health, Congress will need to do significantly more than it is tasked with accomplishing. 

“The fact of the matter is we can achieve major savings through some simple and commonsense reforms – such as reducing the size of the federal workforce by 10 percent and instituting a three year pay freeze, saving $248 billion. Some things are common sense: We could reduce the size of the federal government’s limousine fleet and consolidate the number of mascots used by the Department of Homeland Security, saving taxpayers millions of dollars. We will need to do much more to balance our budget, but we should take these simpler steps right away.”

Click here to view Senator Johnson’s report on the specific cuts. 

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