Biden to reveal major spending plan
President Joe Biden this week will reveal the scope and ambition of his plans to expand and reorient the U.S. government, setting the stage for a bitter fight on Capitol Hill that could define his presidency.
Biden will unveil the framework for a major infrastructure-and-jobs program on Wednesday in Pittsburgh, and later in the week offer the first glimpse of his 2022 budget -- which promises to redirect federal funds to areas such as climate change and health care.
The announcements will offer the first concrete details of Biden’s plan to overhaul federal spending, in a sales pitch without the immediacy of the pandemic emergency that he had for his first package. To succeed, Biden will have to convince the public and lawmakers on a multi-trillion dollar investment in infrastructure and social safety nets, along with a revamp of the tax code to help address funding needs and widening inequality.
“Successful presidents -better than me -- have been successful in large part because they know how to time what they’re doing,” Biden said Thursday when asked why he was pursuing the massive spending package instead of other legislative priorities, such as gun control. Infrastructure is “the place where we will be able to significantly increase American productivity, at the same time providing really good jobs.”
While Biden has made clear his plans will include tax-policy changes to help fund what aides have laid out as a roughly $3 trillion long-term program, how specific he’ll be on Wednesday is uncertain. His budget plan also won’t include a comprehensive breakdown about the agency-by-agency spending increases the administration is seeking.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said on “Fox News Sunday” that Biden will present his infrastructure plan this week, with social initiatives including health care and child care later in April.
Republican lawmakers are already greeting Biden’s intentions with stiff opposition, as they look to build a case against tax and spending increases ahead of the midterm elections in 2022. The GOP needs just one seat in the Senate and a handful in the House to retake control of Congress and cripple the rest of the Biden agenda.
And even keeping Democrats united will be a challenge, given rising deficit concerns among moderates and escalating demands for higher spending from progressives.
Justice Democrats want $2 trillion in climate change initiatives alone. The Sunrise Movement has called for a $10 trillion bill -- investing $1 trillion per year in infrastructure and climate change efforts. Some lawmakers are pushing a major Medicare expansion.