May 6 (Bloomberg) -- President Barack Obama will propose cutting or eliminating 121 federal programs to save almost $17 billion in the fiscal year that begins Oct. 1, two senior administration officials said.

Obama, in a proposal likely to provoke opposition in Congress and from interest groups after it is released tomorrow, is filling in details of a $3.55 trillion budget outline approved by lawmakers last week. Part of the package would eliminate scores of programs that the president deems wasteful or ineffective to help bring spending under control.

Representative Dennis Cardoza, a California Democrat, called the administration’s plan a “positive step” to try to “bring this whole thing into some kind of fiscal balance.” He and other House Democratic leaders were briefed today by White House budget director Peter Orszag.

“I am not going to agree with all of it,” said Cardoza, a member of his party’s fiscally conservative Blue Dog coalition. “I certainly applaud their looking at government waste and trying to eliminate” unnecessary spending.

Orszag later briefed Senate Democratic leaders.

White House officials today cited some examples of programs to be reduced or eliminated as part of a line-by-line review of the budget. They include one that paid states to clean up abandoned mine sites, for a savings of $142 million; a Defense Department radio navigation system made obsolete by global- positioning devices, to save $35 million, and Even Start, an early childhood Education Department program, for a savings of $66 million.

0.4 Percent of Budget

The savings, if accepted by Congress, would represent 0.4 percent of Obama’s $3.55 trillion budget.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, and House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat, declined to discuss details of the proposal.

The administration’s budget-cutting efforts aren’t new and often aren’t successful. In 2008, then-President George W. Bush, working with a Democratic Congress, proposed ending or reducing 141 federal programs. Of those, 29 were terminated or trimmed for a savings of about $1.6 billion, the White House budget office said.

“Every government program -- no matter how wasteful --will be defended by its recipients and congressional champions,” said Brian Riedl, a budget expert at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington-based research group. “Unless Obama puts the weight of the White House behind his spending cuts, Congress will ignore them.”

Budget Outline

Lawmakers on April 29 adopted a $3.55 trillion outline for the 2010 budget that embraces Obama’s top agenda items, including a health-care overhaul, a push for renewable, clean- energy sources and changes in education funding.

White House officials, who briefed reporters on a conference call, said today about half the program cuts or eliminations called for in the administration’s detailed proposal are in defense and the rest are spread throughout the government. Some programs to be reduced or ended were previously announced by Defense Secretary Robert Gates, though about 80 weren’t disclosed before, an administration official said.

The official said the White House doesn’t expect the belt- tightening effort to be easy.

‘Same Goal’

Representative John Larson, a Connecticut Democrat, said Congress “may have a slightly different point of view on areas” where Obama is proposing cuts. Still, he said Congress and the president “will both get to the same goal” of improving the economy and reducing the budget deficit.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a California Democrat, has asked lawmakers to compile their own list of potential program terminations or cuts, an administration official said.

The Congressional Budget Office projects the deficit will be $1.85 trillion this year, about four times the previous record, and $1.38 trillion in fiscal 2010.

Asked whether cuts of less than $20 billion will make a dent in the deficit, Larson said, “It depends on what it means over the scope of five and 10 years.” From the “deep, cavernous hole where we have been left, we’re looking a long way up but it’s a steady climb” under the budget plan agreed to by Obama and Congress, he said.

Representative Jim Clyburn of South Carolina, the House’s third-ranking Democrat, said he will “reserve judgment” on the proposed cuts until he has a chance to read the proposal.

To contact the reporters on this story: Roger Runningen in Washington at rruningen@bloomberg.net; James Rowley in Washington at jarowley@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: May 6, 2009 22:43 EDT