Democratic lawmakers are measured in support of proposed agency budget cuts

As Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the House Budget Committee on Thursday that the government's budget "appears to be on an unsustainable path," lawmakers weighed in on President Obama's request that agencies cut 5 percent from their coffers.

During a Government Executive leadership breakfast on Thursday, Rep. Gerry Connolly, D-Va., who sits on both the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the budget panel, said he was sympathetic to the need to reduce federal spending but generally doesn't favor across-the-board spending cuts.

"It rewards the bad along with the good," Connolly said. While one agency could have submitted a thoughtful, restrained budget proposal, another could have failed to show the same discipline, he said, yet both are asked to slash spending by the same percentage.

Connolly said he is "more comfortable" with cuts that occur after an analysis has demonstrated a program is ineffective, redundant or otherwise performing poorly. "I'd rather have that kind of paring out," he said.

In reacting to the June 8 White House memo, Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, D-Ariz., said the mandate has promise but will require follow-up. "If done right, this push could mean real progress towards a balanced budget," Kirkpatrick said. "But this is Washington, and everyone knows it is easier to talk about eliminating inefficiency than to make the tough choices required to actually do it."

Making budgetary restraint meaningful will require action and commitment from both agencies and Congress, Kirkpatrick said.

"The federal government has to fully commit to doing more with less," she said. "Agencies must be creative and aggressive, using 5 percent cuts as a minimum and not a final goal. This Congress should also play an active role in finding cost-effective ways to achieve our goals. This is an opportunity that cannot be allowed to slip by."

Connolly said finding the right level of involvement in identifying which programs to trim could be tricky, as Congress has a "constitutional obligation" to make sure programs are working but rarely separates politics from that exercise. The Virginia lawmaker said agencies should make the initial effort, with the necessary guidance on performance metrics, to avoid putting programs "at the mercy" of legislative politics.

Bernanke told lawmakers on Thursday that deficit increases were necessary to temper the effects of the recession, and the economy still might be too fragile for major budget cuts. "This very moment is not the time to radically reduce our spending or raise our taxes, because the economy is still in a recovery mode and needs that support," he said.