The chair of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, Darrell Issa, R-Calif., is asking agencies to identify alternatives to the cuts imposed by sequestration.
In a letter sent to the acting heads of 17 agencies Issa requested a targeted list of programmatic spending cuts that would be better than across-the-board cuts, and a list of programs not essential to meeting the agency’s goals.
The letter also cites recommendations made by agency inspectors general to eliminate wasteful or duplicative spending as examples of short-term cuts that could be implemented to meet the mandated $85 billion in spending reductions driving sequestration.
The committee is holding a series of hearings on implementing more of these recommendations, starting with the Departments of Education and Transportation.
