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

The Republican House wants to cut government spending. This budget does the opposite.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and President Joe Biden

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.

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