July 15, 2010 8:52AM # GOP Spending Cap By [Tad DeHaven](https://www.cato.org/people/tad-dehaven) --- SHARE Republicans on the Senate Appropriations Committee have announced support for caps on the discretionary spending portion of the federal budget. According to press [reports](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100713/ap_on_bi_ge/us_republicans_budget), discretionary spending under the cap for fiscal year 2011 would be approximately $20 billion less than what the president has proposed. Appropriators — often referred to as the “third party” in Washington — exist to do one thing: spend other people’s money. Getting appropriators to agree to place any sort of limit themselves is a plus. However, it’s hard to get excited about spending $20 billion less than the president. As the following chart shows, discretionary outlays have soared in the past decade: ![Media Name: 201007_blog_dehaven151.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/pubs_2x/public/wp-content/uploads/201007_blog_dehaven151.jpg?itok=BFF6H7_b) With three months still to go in the current budget year, [the federal deficit has already hit the trillion dollar mark](http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Federal-budget-gap-tops-1-apf-3046787518.html?x=0&.v=13). By year’s end the government will have borrowed about $1.4 trillion. It’s like the entire discretionary budget — defense and hundreds of other activities — are all financed by borrowing from the next generation. Republicans apparently want agitated voters to see this gesture as evidence that the party is serious about out-of-control spending and deficits. But capping spending at the already exorbitant levels that Republicans helped reach isn’t exactly a big reform. Instead, Republicans need to propose the elimination of entire agencies and major programs for them to be taken seriously as a party willing to confront the nation’s looming financial crisis. ##### Related Tags [Tax and Budget Policy](https://www.cato.org/tax-budget-policy) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).