Trump ask Cabinet to cut next year’s budgets by 5 percent

WASHINGTON — Dubbing it the “nickel plan,” President Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he’s asking every Cabinet secretary to cut their next-year’s budgets by 5 percent.

“Get rid of the fat. Get rid of the waste,” Trump told members of his Cabinet during a meeting at the White House. “And I’m sure you can do it.”

Trump said he couldn’t ask for the spending cuts earlier because he was working with Congress to increase funding for the U.S. military.

Trump’s budget request is due early next year. It’s for the fiscal year that starts Oct. 1, 2019. He said he wants to keep defense spending at $700 billion.

Trump said he’s heard of a money-saving strategy called the “penny plan” to reduce federal spending by 1 percent.

“Rather than go by the penny plan, we’ll go by the nickel plan,” he said

Some Cabinet secretaries can probably cut more than 5 percent, he said.

“I believe we can actually do it easily,” he said.