November 1, 2018

The Honorable Alexander Acosta
Secretary, Department of Labor
200 Constitution Avenue, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20210

Dear Secretary Acosta,

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.

• Eliminate the Occupational Safety and Health Administration’s Susan Harwood Training Grants

                        1-Year Savings: $11 million                  5-Year Savings: $55 million

• Eliminate the Department of Labor’s international labor grants and reduce International Labor Affairs staff

                        1-Year Savings: $67 million                  5-Year Savings: $335 million

• Eliminate the Senior Community Service Employment Program

                        1-Year Savings: $400 million                5-Year Savings: $2 billion

• Close low-performing Job Corps centers, piloting new approaches to service delivery, and focus the program on youth most likely to benefit from the intervention

                        1-Year Savings: $407 million                5-Year Savings: $2 billion

• Eliminate the Migrant and Seasonal Farmworker Training program

                        1-Year Savings: $82 million                  5-Year Savings: $410 million

• Reduce funding for the Office of Disability Employment Policy

                        1-Year Savings: $11 million                  5-Year Savings: $55 million

• Establish an unemployment solvency standard

                        1-Year Savings: $0                               5-Year Savings: $4.5 billion

• Reform the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act

                        1-Year Savings: $62 million                  5-Year Savings: $84 million

Secretary Acosta, 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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