Kentucky Republican Sen.-elect Rand Paul address supporters at his victory party in Bowling Green, Ky., Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010. (AP Photo/Ed Reinke) By Ed Reinke
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) -- In his first major legislative proposal, U.S. Sen. Rand Paul has proposed cutting government spending by $500 billion in a year, including eliminating the Departments of Energy and Housing and Urban Development and most of the Department of Education.
Paul, R-Ky., said the plan he rolled out Tuesday would cut almost 40 percent of the country's projected deficit by abolishing programs that he said are outside the government's constitutional scope.
The Courier-Journal reports the proposal would make deep cuts to the budgets of the Food and Drug Administration, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Park Service and the federal court system.