Obama Seeks to Wield Spending Scalpel

From CongressDaily's a.m. update:

President Obama will try something that former President George W. Bush couldn't pull off -- convincing Congress to give him authority to force lawmakers to vote to cut waste from spending bills. Under the plan he intends to send Congress today, Obama would be able to sign spending bills, then take two months to identify pet projects and questionable spending and send lawmakers a package of cuts they would have to vote to accept or reject. Senate Democrats rejected a similar plan three years ago, but in an anti-Washington election year, lawmakers might be more inclined to show they are tough on spending. House Minority Leader Boehner praised the idea, but said it was "no substitute for a real budget that reins in overall federal spending."

OMB is holding a conference call on the proposal right now. More to come on this soon.

UPDATE: The White House has posted a blog item summarizing the proposal. Money quote: "the expedited rescission authority in the Reduce Unnecessary Spending Act would be particularly effective in reining in programs that are heavily earmarked or not merit-based as well as those that are plainly wasteful and duplicative."