Biden’s $6T Budget To Push Health Initiatives, Social Infrastructure Spending
President Joe Biden will release his massive budget proposal today that will consolidate initiatives previously announced by the White House, including its infrastructure plan. On that subject, Republicans yesterday offered a more modest counter which would reclaim covid relief funds. Biden criticized the proposal and Democrat state treasurers warned against it.
The New York Times:
Biden's Plan: President To Propose $6 Trillion Budget To Boost Middle Class, Infrastructure
President Biden will propose a $6 trillion budget on Friday that would take the United States to its highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II as he looks to fund a sweeping economic agenda that includes large new investments in education, transportation and fighting climate change. Documents obtained by The New York Times show that the budget request, the first of Mr. Biden’s presidency, calls for total spending to rise to $8.2 trillion by 2031, with deficits running above $1.3 trillion throughout the next decade. The growth is driven by Mr. Biden’s two-part agenda to upgrade the nation’s infrastructure and substantially expand the social safety net, contained in his American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, along with other planned increases in discretionary spending. (Tankersley, 5/27)
AP:
Social Spending, Business Tax Hike Drive $6T Biden Budget
Biden had already announced his major budget initiatives, but during a rollout Friday he will release them as a single proposal to incorporate them into the government’s existing budget framework, including Social Security and Medicare. ... The budget incorporates the administration’s eight-year, $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal and its $1.8 trillion American Families Plan and adds details on his $1.5 trillion request for annual operating appropriations for the Pentagon and domestic agencies. (Taylor, 5/28)
The Wall Street Journal:
Biden’s Budget To Spotlight Battle Over Abortion Restrictions
President Biden’s coming budget proposal will include his decision on whether to push to end a ban on using federal dollars for abortions in most cases, potentially opening a new front in the clash over access to the procedure. Mr. Biden said during his presidential campaign that he backed scrapping the ban, known as the Hyde Amendment, reversing his longstanding position in favor of the measure that has been included in spending bills for decades. (Lucey, 5/27)
Politico:
Biden Budget Won't Clear Up Congress' Infrastructure Limbo
The release of President Joe Biden’s budget on Friday was supposed to be the green light for Democrats to go it alone on his $4 trillion infrastructure plan. Instead his party is stalled at the intersection.Biden will release that long-awaited fiscal year 2022 budget plan on Friday, a crucial first step for congressional Democrats to unlock the legislative powers to pass an infrastructure package without GOP votes. (Emma, Ferris and Levin, 5/28)
AP:
Biden To GOP: 'Don't Get In The Way' Of Infrastructure Plan
President Joe Biden on Thursday warned naysayers in Congress not to “get in the way” of his big infrastructure plans as the White House panned a counteroffer from Republican senators to tap unused COVID-19 relief for a more modest investment in roads, highways and other traditional public works projects. After touring a manufacturing technology center at a community college in Cleveland, Biden held up a card with the names of Republicans lawmakers who had rejected his coronavirus aid bill in Washington but later promoted its assistance when they were back home in front of voters. He warned them not to play similar games as he pushes this next legislative priority in Congress. (Mascaro and Lemire, 5/27)
CNN:
President Biden Blasts Republicans For Touting Covid Relief Funds They Voted Against: 'Some People Have No Shame'
President Joe Biden on Thursday criticized Republican lawmakers who have touted parts of the Covid-19 economic relief law that benefit their constituents despite having voted against the law, saying: "Some people have no shame." No Republican in Congress voted for the American Rescue Plan when it passed earlier this year, but Biden noted several are now touting portions of the $1.9 trillion package that have gone toward their home districts. (Sullivan and Judd, 5/27)
The Hill:
Democratic State Treasurers Warn Against Repurposing COVID-19 Funds For Infrastructure
Democratic state treasurers are warning Congress against a GOP pitch to repurpose funds from President Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief law to pay for infrastructure investments. In an open letter to lawmakers Thursday, 14 Democratic state treasurers argued that taking funds from the COVID-19 relief measure would imperil the economic recovery. (Chalfant, 5/27)
