Bush to Make Smaller Security Fund Cuts

The White House has been planning to cut the counterterrorism funds for police, firefighters and first responders across the country. But now a new report says those cuts won’t be as deep as originally planned.

The Associated Press’ Eileen Sullivan is reporting the White House will now request $2.2 billion for the funds in 2009, up from the original $1.4 billion proposed last year. That marks a 10 percent increase in what the president requested for 2008, but 40 percent less than Congress handed out.

“I see this as a solid victory in that we reversed OMB’s cuts,” New York Rep. Peter King told Sullivan, referring to the Office of Management and Budget, which oversees the administration’s spending plans. “But we’re still short of where we have to be. We won the first round, but now we still have a few more rounds to go.”

Since the September 11 terrorist attacks, the Homeland Security Department has given $23 billion to states and local communities to fight terrorism. However, Sullivan says a November 26 document justified the cuts by saying the administration is not convinced the money was well spent and thinks the nation’s highest-risk cities have largely satisfied their security needs.

King told Sullivan the request in the November 26 document was done without the president’s knowledge or approval. After Bush learned of the drastic cuts, “The president overruled the bean counters,” King told her.

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