WASHINGTON (`) – President Joe Biden’s forthcoming budget proposal aims to cut deficits by nearly $3 trillion over the next decade, according to a government official.
That deficit reduction target is well above the $2 trillion Biden pledged in his State of the Union address last month. It’s also a sharp contrast to House Republicans, who have called for a path to a balanced budget but are yet to offer a blueprint.
The White House has consistently questioned Republicans’ commitment to a sustainable federal budget. Government officials have determined that the various tax plans and other measures previously supported by GOP lawmakers would increase the national debt by more than $2.7 trillion over 10 years.
Biden plans to discuss his budget proposal in Philadelphia on Thursday. The official familiar with Biden’s budget plan was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly before the president’s official announcement and spoke on condition of anonymity on Wednesday. The official said Biden will also propose cutting government spending going to big pharmaceutical and oil companies.
As part of the budget, the president has already said he wants to increase the Medicare payroll tax for people earning more than $400,000 a year and impose a tax on the holdings of billionaires and others with extreme wealth.
It is a delicate time when the US economy is strained due to high inflation. The administration is likely to exhaust its contingency measures this summer to keep Washington running, raising the risk of a default and a catastrophic series of job losses that could crash the economy.
Biden’s package of spending priorities is unlikely to pass the House or Senate as proposed. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Tuesday that the plan “will not see the light of day,” a sign it could serve primarily as a news document for the 2024 election.
The Republicans, who now control the House of Representatives, are demanding drastic spending cuts. Biden has hinted that raising taxes on the income and possessions of the nation’s wealthiest households can strengthen government finances and also improve Medicare and Social Security.
The president claimed in a speech Monday that there are 680 billionaires in the United States and that many of them pay less in taxes than families who describe themselves as middle class. Biden said not to hold him to the exact number of billionaires, but that they could afford to pay more for the good of the country.
“No billionaire should pay a lower tax rate than a firefighter – nobody,” Biden said at a gathering of the International Association of Fire Fighters.
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