Bush requests 1 percent increase for IT in 2005

The White House is seeking its smallest increase in federal IT spending in recent years. The administration today asked Congress for $59.7 billion for IT hardware, software and services in its fiscal 2005 budget request. The $600 million increase over this year’s request of $59.1 billion is a 1 percent increase. Last year, the Bush administration asked for more than a 12 percent increase in IT spending over 2003. But with a budget deficit and increased spending for homeland security and the war on terrorism, the IT budget became a victim of the White House’s attempt to hold down discretionary spending. In his State of the Union speech last month, President Bush said discretionary spending would be held to less than 4 percent across the board. The request includes 621 major projects worth about $22 billion that the Office of Management and Budget put on a watch list. That list identifies projects that lack at least two of three criteria: adequate security, performance measures or earned value management. Full Story