Cantor: GOP looking at cutting budget for White House

Republicans in Congress might move to slash the White House budget if they win back control of the House, Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) suggested Monday.

Cantor, the second-ranking House Republican who would likely become majority leader under a GOP-controlled House, said that a new majority might axe White House and congressional salaries and budgets as part of cost-saving reforms.

"We're also looking at cutting into, seriously, the budgets in the White House and Congress," Cantor said Monday evening on CNBC. "The executive wing of the White House, the West Wing, the salaries there, over the the last year, have gone up just $4 million."

The 469 employees of the White House were paid approximately $38.7 million in combined salary, according to figures released to Congress back in July. Top administration figures like outgoing Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel and senior adviser David Axelrod earn a maximum $172,200 per year.

Congress spends about $4.4 billion a year on its own operations, part of which goes to salary. If the new GOP majority were to cut staffs, it could also cost jobs for Republican staffers who hope to benefit from the party's increased control of Capitol Hill, with its increased office positions and committee jobs.

A move to cut the White House budget, though, might be seen as a particularly direct shot by a newfound GOP majority against the Obama administration.

Cantor touted the idea as just one example of the specific proposals Republicans have to cut the deficit under the "Pledge for America" agenda that House Republicans released last week.

"In the Pledge to America, what we try and say and do is, we've got to rebalance, if you will, the role of the federal government versus the private sector," he said. "And we advocate some specific spending cuts."

Cutting congressional staff salary, Cantor suggested, would resonate well with the public.

"That's the kind of thing that the public's upset about," he said. "And we're determined make sure and put in place these kinds of fiscal constraint measures."

The administration has undertaken its own efforts to reduce staff and salary. The White House in June directed all federal agencies to identify areas to cut five percent from their respective budgets.