House lawmakers introduce bipartisan bill to cut wasteful spending

Several House lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday that would create a bipartisan commission to root out and eliminate federal programs with duplicate purposes.

Reps. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), Aaron Schock (R-Ill.), Mike Quigley (D-Ill.), and Joe Walsh (R-Ill.) would create a group comprised House and Senate lawmakers, as well as outside experts, to help abolish unnecessary or inefficient programs. 

"Our government is bloated by too many wasteful federal programs," Cooper said in a statement. "It is time to cut the fat. Congress needs to tighten its belt and take better care of taxpayer dollars. This bill is a good place to start."

Cooper said the measure builds on legislation introduced in the 111th Congress to evaluate the usefulness of federal programs. 

The latest measure "would add much-needed teeth in order to eliminate programs that are not performing by abolishing those federal programs that fail to measure up," the release said. 

Every Sept. 1, the commission would report to Congress and provide a list of federal programs selected for elimination, as well as recommendations for how to improve or consolidate others. Within six months of being added to the list, a federal program's funding will be ended, with unobligated amounts returned to the Treasury to reduce the deficit. 

Congress can overturn the end of any federal program by choosing to reauthorize it at any time. 

The commission will be comprised of 10 members appointed by the president, five of whom are former members of Congress and five of whom are non-congressional members with expertise in the administration of government programs. No more than three members in each category may be of the same political party. Commission members are term-limited and will not be paid.

"Getting Washington’s spending spree under control should be a bipartisan priority, because economic improvement and job creation are directly tied to lowering our federal deficit," Schock said.