President Joe Biden is ramping up his attacks on House Republicans, claiming their budget proposals will hurt American families, as both sides prepare to do battle over spending by the federal government before it runs out of money sometime this summer.
The new line of attacks from the White House comes as the House GOP gathers in Orlando to plan their agenda for the next year, which includes a budget proposal to counter Biden’s.
The administration plans to highlight a different area every day this week on how the GOP will hurt American families – calling it a ‘five-alarm fire.’
Biden, who is expected to run for a second term next year, is pushing for more spending for social programs in his budget, which he will pay for by hiking taxes on the wealthy and corporations.
Republicans want to slash federal spending in order to rein in the $262 billion federal deficit.
President Joe Biden is ramping up his attacks on House Republicans
‘As MAGA House Republicans go to Florida for their retreat, the White House and Congressional Democrats are going on offense, slamming the Freedom Caucus’s MAGA Budget Proposal as a Five-Alarm Fire for hardworking families.
‘This is the only House Republican plan on the table, put forward by the same Members with whom Speaker McCarthy struck secret deals to become Speaker,’ a White House official said.
Both sides are setting up the coming budget battle as a fight over their values. And each party is trying to get a tactical advantage before sitting down to work on the spending details.
The White House accuses Republicans of ‘endangering public safety, raising costs for families, shipping manufacturing jobs overseas and undermining American workers, weakening national security, and hurting seniors.’
Republicans say it’s time to slash the social safety net, to cut support for Ukraine in order to focus on America, and end ‘woke’ spending.
The White House is focused on a budget plan from the conservative Freedom Caucus that would cap overall discretionary spending at fiscal 2022 levels for 10 years while allowing for 1 percent growth per year, which would be a $131 billion cut from current levels.
Much of what the federal government spends every year is mandatory spending set by federal law. That includes funding for programs such as Social Security. Another portion is made up of interest payments on the federal debt.
The remaining money is what is subjected to political fights over spending priorities.
Biden’s team argues the budget from the conservative wing of the GOP would defund the police because it could mean a hiring freeze at the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
They also say it will end Biden’s $400 billion student loan forgiveness program, reclaim unspent COVID funds, and cut social programs in housing and food for the poor.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and his GOP conference are at a retreat in Florida working on their budget priorities
Caught up in the crossfire of the budget fight is the battle over the debt ceiling.
The country is expected to hit its $31.4 trillion debt ceiling this summer and Republicans want to see spending cuts in order to bring down the deficit. Biden wants a clean raise of the debt ceiling as have been done for past presidents, including Donald Trump.
McCarthy, who hosted Biden on Capitol Hill last week for a St. Patrick’s Day luncheon, said, at that event, he confronted the president about the lack of negotiations on the debt ceiling.
‘I just saw the president again on St. Patrick’s Day, Friday,’ the speaker told reporters in Florida over the weekend.
‘I sat down with him and said, you said we’d meet again. Every day that passes, you put the economy in jeopardy,’ he said.
Biden has said he wants to see a Republican budget before he begins any negotiation on government spending or cuts in funds.
The political standoff has raised concerns that the country may see its first-ever default, which would be devastating for the economy – both here and abroad.
Speaker Kevin McCarthy hosted President Biden at a St. Patrick’s Day lunch on Capitol Hill
But, as the president increases his fire, Republicans are standing firm.
‘It’s the debt ceiling negotiations that oftentimes force the biggest budget reforms, which have been really important for our country,’ Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, a member of GOP leadership, said to Punchbowl News on Monday. ‘A clean debt ceiling is a non-starter.’
‘People underestimated what the House Republicans could accomplish, and we’ve really set the agenda,’ the third highest ranking House Republican said. ‘We are playing our role as the as the last backstop for the American people from single party Democrat rule.’