Hell, even keeping the spending flat from year to year would seem draconian to many government employees, and would still help trim the budget somewhat.
I was in the military for six years--mostly in the late 80's, and one thing I hated to hear was that within each department's budget, they had to spend all of their planned budget for that fiscal year. If they didn't, they would receive less the following year. It wasn't about business need (or military need, for that matter), it was about meeting arbitrary spending patterns.
“one thing I hated to hear was that within each department’s budget, they had to spend all of their planned budget for that fiscal year. If they didn’t, they would receive less the following year.”
I spent a career in the military industrial complex. Practically every year I was involved in an effort to help the customer spend down their budget. They bought things they’d never, in a hundred years, use. Because, those were the things we could sell them in the allotted time. I hated it to. On the other hand, it kept me employed and I didn’t hate it enough to change jobs. (Mostly, because the options were all similar and all involved a move I didn’t want to make. We tend to accept things we can’t change and deal with them.)