White House condemns House GOP group that proposed budget with 'devastating consequences'

The White House on Friday criticized a federal budget proposed by Republicans in the House Freedom Caucus for its potentially “devastating consequences” for families that would be a “gut-punch to the American middle class.”

“This proposal would bring devastating consequences to our national security, working families, and community safety, and result in $0 in deficit reduction when coupled with MAGA Republicans’ support for trillions in tax cuts,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The House Freedom Caucus is a conservative group of 45 Republicans led by chairman Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) and vice chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH).

The caucus on Friday released a statement that said it would consider voting to raise the debt ceiling in exchange for a series of spending cuts. Among the proposed cuts are a repeal of student loan forgiveness proposed by President Joe Biden, repeal of climate change funding as laid out in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and rescinding $80 billion allocated to boost the IRS in the same law.

The caucus also called for capping government spending for the next 10 years at the levels dictated in the 2022 budget.

Budget experts say that failing to increase spending as costs grow amounts to a cut to services. In this case, government agencies with oversight in health care, environmental protection, education, and national security would have fewer resources.

In remarks delivered from the White House on Friday, President Joe Biden derided the proposal.

Biden on Thursday offered up his budget plan, which the White House projected would cut the deficit by $2.9 trillion over a 10-year period.

The administration’s plan calls for increasing revenue by imposing a 25% minimum tax on billionaires, raising the Medicare tax rate for households earning over $400,000, and repealing the Trump-era tax cuts.

Biden has also said his budget would allow Medicare to negotiate with drug manufacturers over a wider array of drugs, expanding on power that was given to the agency in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Biden has repeatedly said he would veto legislation that would cut spending on Social Security or Medicare.

House Republicans, led by Speaker Kevin McCarthy, have thus far not offered a unified budget proposal. McCarthy has insisted that unspecified cuts to spending need to be made before he will let the House vote on raising the debt ceiling.

Biden has called for a “clean” increase to the debt ceiling without additional demands attached. The debt ceiling has already been raised 78 times since 1960, under both Republican and Democratic presidents.

Economic experts have said that failing to raise the debt ceiling could cause a catastrophic blow to both the U.S. economy and the global economy.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.