Trump Eyes Federal Staffing Cuts of 20 Percent

President-elect Donald Trump is looking to trim some of the government's fat in the form of sizable spending and staffing cuts.

According to the Washington Examiner, some of the spending cuts for individual departments could reach 10 percent and staffing cuts could be as high as 20 percent.

The Examiner cites sources that say "landing teams" at some cabinet agencies are already working on the plan. The spending cuts would likely come from discretionary spending, not things like Medicare, Social Security, or other mandated programs.

Staffing cuts may be spread out over four years via attrition and hiring freezes, the Examiner notes.

Trump has vowed to slash government spending in order to bring down the deficit and also add more budget dollars to the Department of Defense. He is working to bring down defense costs, too, however, by way of negotiating with defense contractors.

Part of Trump's plan to reduce spending involves the penny plan, which would cut back certain agencies' budgets by 1 cent for every dollar spent over several years.

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