Conservative members of the Democratic Party were unhappy about how the $787 billion stimulus was crafted, but Speaker Nancy Pelosi today made, at least, an overture toward their philosophy of spending restraint. Pelosi asked every committee chair in the House to look for ways to trim federal spending in their upcoming round of budget hearings. (With President Obama set to release his budget proposal next week, Congress will begin deliberations on the budget soon.)
In a letter, Pelosi asked the chairs to
"conduct rigorous oversight of all aspects of federal spending and government
operations to help achieve deficit reduction and long term fiscal
responsibility" and to "scrutinize our budget, promote efficiency, and reduce waste
in government spending."
The request begins to satisfy a new
rule, proposed by Rep. John Tanner (D-TN) of the conservative Blue Dog
Coalition and passed by the House in January, that would require committees to
hold at least three hearings per year on waste, fraud, and abuse in the federal
agencies that fall within their purview.
