Defense Spending Takes Biggest Hit In Obama's Proposed Budget Cuts

May 7, 2009 2:09 p.m. EST

Washington, D.C. (AHN) - President Barack Obama recommended cuts in more than 100 federal programs on Thursday that could save the federal government $17 billion next year. However, the largest cuts would be in defense spending.

Obama would cut nearly $3.4 billion from proposed equipment purchases, such as the F-22 fighter plane and combat systems for vehicles, as well as recruitment and retention for the armed forces.

Defense spending customarily accounts for about 20 percent of the federal budget.

Obama would reduce or eliminate funding for 121 programs including ending a navigation system that has been made obsolete by the Global Positioning System, canceling remodeling of the Los Alamos Neutron Science Center, and ending a children's education program that the administration said was overhead-heavy.

Peter Orszag, director of the Office of Management and Budget, released a statement in conjunction with the president's comments.

The president's cuts "are part of the administration's larger effort to change how Washington does business and put the nation's fiscal house in order," the statement said. "Today represents a significant installment in our commitment to review the federal budget line by line."

The recommended cuts amount to about one half of one percent of the more than $3.5 million in approved spending for 2010.