Domestic government agencies are being told to brace for a spending freeze or cuts of up to five percent.

The Obama administration wants to slash spending in next year's budget as part of a midterm election-year push to rein in record budget shortfalls.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, said the Democrats' "war on deficits comes about a year late and more than a trillion dollars short."

"Spending in Washington has been out of control for years, and instead of changing it as they promised they would, Speaker Nancy Pelosi and President Obama have stepped on the accelerator," Boehner said in a statement.

White House budget director Peter Orszag said it is imperative to start curbing the flow of red ink.

Orszag has said the spending blueprint, for the budget year that begins Oct. 1, 2010, would put the nation "back on a fiscally sustainable path."

But economists say Obama's savings plan would barely make a dent in the trillion dollar-plus annual deficit.
    
The Associated Press reported any move to trim the deficit may "hold more symbolic value than substance."