Americans understand that spending cuts are necessary to avoid default when facing a shortage of funds to pay creditors and reduce debts. A CNN poll revealed that 60 percent of surveyed individuals agree that raising the debt ceiling followed by spending cuts. The negotiations between Congress and the White House continue to increase the debt limit. The discussion also includes all federal government expenditures.
The debt ceiling has been raised 61 times and with 32 instances that involve spending cuts or other legislative measures. On the other hand, 29 times the debt ceiling was increased without any additional provisions. The Budget Control Act (BCA) of 2011 made the most important cuts, which met 10-year defense and non-defense spending caps.
The BCA resulted from negotiations between the Obama administration and Congress, is then proceeded by Vice President Joe Biden.
On April 26 House passed a debt ceiling bill that exclude defense spending. This means that spending cuts fall disproportionately on non-defense agencies and programs. One area where the cuts can benefit is by eliminating earmarks.
According to a GAO report from May 31, 2022, over 130 broadband programs are spread across 15 federal agencies. Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr discovered that up to $800 billion is free for infrastructure programs, including broadband, to connect all unserved or underserved households and businesses nationwide. Despite these opportunities, some Congress members have earmarked $9.5 million for eight broadband projects in the Agriculture Appropriations bill, including projects that have already received significant funding from other sources.
