WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama's fiscal 2012 budget aims to cut the massive federal deficit by $1.1 trillion over 10 years, White House budget chief Jack Lew said Sunday, warning of "tough choices" ahead.
That figure is more than double the $400 billion of cuts in non-essential programs Obama unveiled in his State of the Union address last month as part of a five-year spending freeze. The president said those savings would take place over 10 years.
Lew said Obama's "responsible" budget, which the president is due to present to Congress on Monday, will also cut the ballooning deficit in half by the end of his first term in January 2013.
"The challenge we have is to live within our means but also invest in the future," he added on CNN.
Lew has outlined a series of targeted cuts, including $350 million from community service funding and $300 million from Community Development Block grants for housing assistance and infrastructure development.
And graduate student loans would also have to accrue interest while students are completing their studies, though the interest would not have to be paid until the person graduates.
But the budget aims to also "make sure nine million students can go to college" through grants and teacher training, according to Lew.
"It's not possible to do this painlessly," he continued. "We made some tough choices."
The budget is also expected to cut $78 billion from the defense budget over five years, slash energy subsidies for the poor and freeze public worker pay.
Republicans criticized Obama's budget proposals for doing too little to reduce the deficit and control spending.
"He's going to present a budget tomorrow that will continue to destroy jobs by spending too much, borrowing too much and taxing too much," House Speaker John Boehner told NBC's "Meet the Press."
Asked about a potential government shutdown if lawmakers fail to agree on compromise legislation to keep the federal government operating uninterrupted, Boehner said Republicans were simply aiming to "reduce spending. Our goal is not to shut down the government."
House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, a fellow Republican, said the latest plan was "very small on spending discipline" and did not differ much from Obama's previous proposals.
"It looks like the debt's going to continue rising under this budget," Ryan told "Fox News Sunday."
"Presidents are elected to lead, not to punt. And this president has been punting."
Republicans have proposed major cuts to popular programs totaling $100 billion for the remainder of the current fiscal year that runs through September 30.
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