House GOP eyes fast-tracking $500 billion in federal budget cuts - BBG

Bloomberg quoted two people familiar with the plan, saying that House Republicans (GOP) are considering an ambitious target of about $500 billion in cuts to so-called mandatory spending in their fiscal 2018 budget resolution.

Key Points via Bloomberg:

The House Budget Committee is considering instructing Congress to pursue the cuts to a rarely-touched slice of the budget that totaled $2.4 trillion in 2016 and which includes spending on safety-net programs like Medicare, Medicaid, unemployment benefits and food stamps.

If agreed to by the Senate, the instructions in the budget resolution would set up a fast-track process to make the spending cuts over 10 years, bypassing any threat of a Senate filibuster by Democrats. 

The purpose of the cuts would be to reduce the deficit, rather than offset other pieces of legislation, such as a tax overhaul, said one of the people. Both asked not to be named because the discussions are private.