Why Biden's 2024 Budget Plan Won't Pass in the House

New budget: President Joe Biden has released his latest budget plan for 2024. Touted as an opportunity to cut deficits by $3 trillion while laying out a framework for his run for reelection, the budget increases taxes for wealthier Americans without cutting Medicare and Social Security, leaving the plan with a slim to nonexistent chance of making it through the Republican-controlled House.

What’s in it? The proposed budget includes $885 billion in defense spending, $7 billion in Ukraine military aid, and $300 billion for government-funded prekindergarten and community college. The plan would also increase the budget for the Internal Revenue Service by 15 percent, in addition to the $80 billion it received a year ago. Biden also proposed restoring the child tax credit to provide families with up to $3,600 per child, which Republicans like Sen. Marco Rubio have championed.

The wealthy would pay for it: Biden’s plan would increase federal spending by $2.6 trillion, but it would decrease the deficit. How? There would be anticipated revenue growth from revised tax rates for America’s wealthiest: a 2.6 percent increase in the tax rate on Americans making more than $400,000 (to 39.6 percent) and a minimum 25 percent tax on American households worth over $100 million. The tax rate would be more than three times the amount the top 0.01 percent currently pays.

Big picture: Though Republicans have pushed for spending cuts, this budget increases spending and taxes the wealthy for the difference—ignoring the government’s spending problem and giving it a near zero chance of passing the House. This budget is more of a campaign pitch (as Biden has emphasized) and an attack on Republican policy rather than a real attempt at passing a budget.