Adam Andrzejewski and Tom Coburn argue in a Washington Examiner column that President Trump might be the right person to take real action to rein in federal government spending.

While the nation was distracted by the political theater around immigration before the July 4 recess, the Senate cast a critical vote killing a very modest attempt offered by President Trump to rein in spending. If Trump plays his cards right, this will not be the end of a fight but its start.

The package in dispute was a $15 billion rescission or spending cut package the president presented to Congress in May. Very little of Trump’s package were true cuts. Only about $1 billion in outlays would be reduced according to the Congressional Budget Office. The rest the package pulled back unspent funds for not-so-urgent federal priorities like promoting chocolate covered peanuts and maintaining idle advanced technology loan programs.

OMB Director Mick Mulvaney chastised Congress for refusing to back even meager cuts. …

… Mulvaney is right. Rather than stand down, Trump should stay on offense and send even more cuts to Congress. There is no shortage of potential savings in today’s bloated federal budget. …

… Trump could draw from this year’s GAO list and send new cuts to Congress or use the bully pulpit to demand congressional action. For instance, GAO found tremendous fragmentation among 163 federal STEM education programs that are spread across 13 different agencies at a cost of $2.9 billion.

Breaking through the noise and controversies of the day with a message of fiscal stewardship is difficult but if anyone can do it, Trump can. Our fight against earmarks during the Bush years provides a useful tactical lesson.