US President Joe Biden has unveiled a $7.3 billion budget proposal that underscores his efforts to pursue several progressive goals while pushing for more funding to fight crime, restrict immigration at the southern border and send helps Israel and Ukraine.
Presidential budget proposals are often viewed as wish lists on which an administration lays out its policy priorities. Since its passage requires the support of a deeply divided US legislature, many of the requests will almost certainly fail.
The budget sent to Congress on Monday would cover fiscal year 2025 that begins in October. It is particularly significant because it outlines Biden's platform heading into November's presidential election, in which he is on track to take on former President Donald Trump, the man he defeated in the 2020 race.
“The president's vision for progress, possibility and resilience stands in stark contrast to congressional Republicans, who have repeatedly fought to cut critical programs the American people count on,” the White House said in a statement, adding that the Republican plans would increase the deficit. in hundreds of billions of dollars, while benefiting “large corporations and rich tax evaders.”
balancing act
The proposed budget broadly seeks to raise taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans to pay for a range of social programs as economic issues weigh heavily on voters' minds.
The tax policies are largely a response to sweeping 2017 tax legislation passed by Republicans during the Trump administration, which lowered the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 21 percent. Biden's proposal would increase the tax rate to 28 percent. He would also seek to ensure that those with wealth of more than $100 million pay at least 25 percent of their annual income in taxes.
The budget would restore a child tax credit for low- and middle-income people, fund child care programs, funnel $258 billion into housing construction and provide paid family leave to workers.
It also includes efforts to combat climate change, reduce health care and prescription drug costs, and protect Social and Medicare safety net programs.
The proposal promises to cut annual deficit spending by $3 trillion over 10 years, slowing but not stopping the growth of the $34.5 trillion national debt, according to the White House.
Funding for crime, borders and foreign aid
The budget proposal also addresses areas where the president is considered most vulnerable ahead of the November election.
With crime expected to loom large in the presidential race, the proposal calls for nearly $32 billion to support state, local and tribal law enforcement. It also includes $17.7 billion to support federal law enforcement.
At the border, where the Biden administration has faced a record number of undocumented crossings by migrants and asylum seekers, the proposal would increase immigration processing and law enforcement capacity, calling for 1,300 new Border Patrol agents, 1,000 officers additional Customs and Border Protection and 1,600 more. asylum officers and support staff. It also calls for “375 new teams of immigration judges to help reduce the backlog of immigration cases.”
The budget would also allocate $4 billion to the State Department to invest in “Indo-Pacific partnerships and alliances” as part of the administration’s “pivot to Asia.”
But underscoring how recent events have slowed that shift, the budget allocates $7.6 billion to the State Department to “support our longstanding commitments to key partners in the Middle East and North Africa,” including “increased assistance to support the Palestinian people.” in the West Bank.” and Gaza,” according to the State Department.
Despite Biden's increasing criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in recent days, the proposal calls for more funding for Israel as it continues its war in Gaza. A separate White House request for $14 billion in additional aid to Israel has stalled in Congress.
The budget proposal also calls for more funding for Ukraine and Taiwan.
Partisan division
The 2025 proposal comes as U.S. agencies continue to operate without a full fiscal year 2024 budget. Due to a partisan impasse, Congress has relied on passing short-term spending bills to keep the government running. Last week he managed to pass about half of the budget bills needed to fund the US government during fiscal year 2024. He faces a March 22 deadline to pass the rest.
The partisan divide is unlikely to narrow any time soon. House Republicans last week released their own drastically different vision for a 2025 budget. That plan seeks to cut $14 trillion in federal spending, including green energy subsidies and student loan forgiveness, while that reduces taxes to eliminate public debt in the projected 10 years.
My joint statement with @SteveScalise, @GOPMajorityWhipand @RepStefanik on Biden's budget proposal: pic.twitter.com/6StD9YAzMe
— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) March 11, 2024
The White House has dismissed the plan as unviable.
In a statement on Monday, House Republicans criticized Biden's 2025 budget proposal as “another glaring reminder of this Administration's insatiable appetite for reckless spending” and a “road map to accelerate the decline of the United States.” Joined”.
