Republicans reportedly want to cut $150 billion in 'woke' spending for things like education and healthcare in a plan engineered by Trump's old budget chief

• As the House heads back into session, some Republicans are eyeing $150 billion in cuts.
• Those spending cuts, according to Reuters, are modeled off budget proposals from Trump's former budget chief.

As Congress heads back into session, some Republicans are reportedly contemplating a plan to shave billions of dollars off federal spending by targeting "woke" policies.

Some Republicans are reportedly taking inspiration from former President Donald Trump's budget chief Russell Vought. Rep. Jodey Arrington, the chair of the House Budget Committee, told Reuters that the GOP is crafting a budget that is "consistent with what's in his budget."

That budget will shave $150 billion off spending, per Reuters, although Arrington did not specify what's on the chopping block. Broadly, nondefense spending will be in the crosshairs, and Vought told Reuters that $25 billion would be cut from "woke" policies at the Department of Education. Also on Vought's list to cut, according to Reuters and his initial proposal: Funding for housing, and programs from the CDC that are meant to help stop sexually transmitted and chronic diseases.

Deficit reduction is on the minds of both parties, although likely not in the same form. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen told Reuters that President Joe Biden's budget would have "substantial deficit reduction over the next decade," and that negotiation over that with Republicans is feasible — as long as it's not tied to the debt ceiling.

Currently, the federal government is facing yet another looming debt ceiling crisis, as the country could default on its debts as soon as July. Republicans, with their control of the House, are trying to wield their newfound power to potentially push through cuts to federal spending as a trade-off for a debt limit deal.

The Washington Post reported last week that Vought has been in talks with some Republican lawmakers since the start of debt ceiling negotiations. He's been pitching his 104-page budget plan, called "A Commitment to End Woke and Weaponized Government."

His proposal addressed areas to cut spending in every federal agency. Vought wrote in the report's introduction that "America cannot be saved unless the current grip of woke and weaponized government is broken. That is the central and immediate threat facing the country—the one that all our statesmen must rise tall to vanquish. The battle cannot wait."

"However, this woke and weaponized regime requires the resources of taxpayers to flourish and can be starved in order to dismantle it," he continued. "Of course, these spending cuts will result in significant savings for the taxpayers."

His proposals included cutting spending for food stamps, health care, and housing. He also pitched completely eliminating the federal student-loan program in a ten-year phase out period, during which he would get rid of the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program, which forgives student debt for government and nonprofit workers after ten years of qualifying payments.

While House Republicans have yet to pinpoint what exactly they would include in a potential debt limit deal, Arrington's budget committee released a list of ten major areas in which they would support cutting spending earlier this month — including recapturing unspent pandemic money, placing work requirements on welfare programs like SNAP, and stopping "woke-waste" projects focused on gender inclusivity.

The only thing that is clear at this point is that Republicans are still intending to leave cuts to Medicare and Social Security out of debt ceiling negotiations. Trump even advised the GOP to keep their hands off those programs, and Vought doesn't think there should be any focus on them in the first place.

"I'm tired of this focus on Social Security and Medicare, as if you're climbing a mountain and can't make any progress on that mountain until you go to the eagle's nest on the top," Vought told the Post. "You take these cuts to the American people, and you win."