Can fiscal consolidation be expansionary?
There has been some papers and articles put forth from the IMF over the last few years suggesting that Austerity has caused many European economies to drag and not recovery from the great recession as well as they otherwise could have.  I pulled the first article I found referencing the IMF research (from Washington post): https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2012/10/12/imf-austerity-is-much-worse-for-the-economy-than-we-thought/

I think the largest concern with respect to expansionary fiscal policy in today's economic climate is the crowd-out effect that huge public debt can have on private investment.  Perhaps someone can link a solid paper about that effect.