CAGW Recommendations for Trump Administration's Nickel Plan- DHS | Council For Citizens Against Government Waste

CAGW Recommendations for Trump Administration's Nickel Plan- DHS

Letters to Officials

November 1, 2018

The Honorable Kirstjen Nielsen
Secretary, Department of Homeland Security
300 7th Street, S.W.
Washington, D.C. 20024

Dear Secretary Nielsen,

During a meeting on October 17, 2018, President Trump directed you and other members of his Cabinet to cut their department budgets by 5 percent in fiscal year (FY) 2019.  With a national debt of more than $21 trillion and the budget deficit soaring to its highest level since 2012, President Trump’s initiative will help to improve fiscal responsibility.

Since 1993, Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) has annually published Prime Cuts, a comprehensive account of options the federal government possesses to reduce waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement.  The 2018 edition has 636 recommendations that would save $429.8 billion in the first year and $3.1 trillion over five years.  Since CAGW was established in 1984 following the release of the Grace Commission report under President Reagan, the implementation of recommendations similar to those in Prime Cuts has helped save taxpayers $1.8 trillion.

I urge you to consider the following recommendations for President Trump’s 5 percent spending cut directive that are included in Prime Cuts 2018, as well as proposed in whole or in part in the President’s Major Savings and Reforms for FYs 2018 and 2019.

  • Reduce the discretionary appropriation for the National Flood Insurance Program's Flood Hazard Mapping Program

          1-Year Savings: $78 million                5-Year Savings: $390 million

  • Eliminate funding that incentivizes state and local law enforcement entities to provide law enforcement at airports by partially reimbursing those entities

          1-Year Savings: $45 million                5-Year Savings: $225 million

  • Extend expiring Customs and Border Protection fees

          1-Year Savings: $0                             5-Year Savings: $0

  • Increase customs user fees

          1-Year Savings: $113 million              5-Year Savings: $686 million

  • Increase worksite enforcement penalties

          1-Year Savings: $13 million                5-Year Savings: $72 million

  • Reauthorize Oil Spill Liability Trust Fund excise tax

          1-Year Savings: $354 million              5-Year Savings: $2.3 billion

Secretary Nielsen, thank you for your efforts to be a responsible steward of the taxpayers’ money.  Your work to fulfill President Trump’s 5 percent cut directive will show taxpayers that your department stands with them in rooting out wasteful spending in the federal government.

Sincerely,

Tom Schatz
President, CAGW

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Letter Type: 
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