$7-Billion Cut From SDI Seen as Budget Saver

The government could save $7 billion over five years by slowing growth of President Reagan’s “Star Wars” space-based defense system, the Congressional Budget Office said today, listing nearly 100 options to save the government money.

Abandonment of the space station program could trim another $8 billion from President Reagan’s spending proposals, and canceling the replacement shuttle for the Challenger could save $2 billion, the CBO report said.

The report is required under a 1974 law, which directs the bipartisan budget office to deliver an analysis of budget options to Congress each year.

CBO Director Rudolph Penner, in the introduction to the 284-page report, stressed that the items listed are options--not recommendations for action.

Not a Recommendation

“The inclusion of an option in the report, or the omission of one, does not imply a recommendation by CBO,” Penner wrote.

Among the options is a slowdown in growth of the Strategic Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars” defense program, a prospect the report said could save $540 million in fiscal 1988 and increased amounts in each of the four following years for a total of about $7 billion by 1992.

“The Administration’s plan calls for a steep rate of real growth in SDI funding,” the report said. “Concerns about technological balance and the pace of SDI growth could be partly addressed by slowing the rate of growth in spending.”