In an ironic twist this week for Arizona Senator John McCain, the Republican presidential hopeful may be forced to prove he is adept at making spending cuts after Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean has gone after him on his attempt to pull out of an early decision to accept public campaign funds.

Should McCain be forced to remain in the program, his spending would be capped at $54 million until the end of the primary season in September.

And according to the most recent fillings, his campaign has already spent $49 million.

Mr. McCain signed on for matching public funds early in the season after his campaign nearly went broke, but after he charged ahead of the pack in Florida and the Super Tuesday states, his fund raising quickly followed suit.

On February 6th, McCain requested the Federal Election Commission allow him to withdraw his campaign from the public financing program and, more importantly, the spending caps that came with it.

That is when Howard Dean and the Democratic National Committee decided to step in.

On Monday, Dean drafted a letter of complaint to the FEC casting doubt over whether McCain could legally withdraw from the his commitments to take public financing and the spending limits it required.

Speculation came over whether or not McCain had pledged his future public financing dollars as collateral for a loan his campaign received from a Maryland Bank, Fidelity & Trust Bank, in November of 2007—a move that would lock him into the agreement he signed to receive public funds.

Dean also claimed that McCain was given free ballot access in some states because of his public bankroll status.

But McCain, along with bank officials, insisted that the requirements of the loan were specifically designed to bar public funds from being used as collateral for the loan and claim that Dean himself was able to pull out of his public financing contract in 2003 without objection.

The DNC dismissed McCain’s assertions a “willingness to mislead the American people on everything the war in Iraq to his campaign’s failure to follow campaign finance laws.”

“This is a cynical ploy on the part of Senator McCain and his campaign. They should either produce their own letter from the FEC releasing them from the public financing system they signed on to, or stop distorting the truth and admit that they're wrong," said DNC Communications Director Karen Finney Wednesday.

But currently both sides face a brick wall with the FEC facing four vacancies on its six member board and no guarantees of quick appointments.

The board must hold a quorum to move ahead on either issue; both pursuing the DNC complaint and confirming a candidate to withdraw from public financing.

In a letter from McCain’s lawyer, Trevor Potter, emphasis was placed on the “voluntary nature” of the system and the Arizona Senator’s circumstances as legally acceptable for withdrawal.

“Even if the Commission concludes that a vote is necessary, we are confident that the Commission will find that its role is “ministerial” in function, and that the Program’s voluntary nature requires it to recognize that Senator McCain’s withdrawal from the Program was effective as of February 6th,” said Potter in the letter.