The suggested $6.9 trillion for the federal government’s operations would constitute a $1.1 trillion increase from the $5.8 trillion proposed by the White House for the previous fiscal year. The budget would decrease the total deficit over the next decade from $20 trillion to $17 trillion.

Senior Republican officials announced that they would oppose the plan, which hinges upon expanded social programs and higher taxes. “President Biden just delivered his budget to Congress, and it is completely unserious. He proposes trillions in new taxes that you and your family will pay directly or through higher costs,” House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) remarked on social media. “Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem.”

Senate Finance Committee Mike Crapo (R-ID) likewise asserted that the budget proposal fails to encourage job creation and higher wages while increasing tax burdens and expenditure levels. “The President’s budget makes clear the administration has not learned from its mistakes that have led to two years of record-high inflation and excessive deficit spending. Instead, this administration is doubling down with more of the same,” he commented. “Revenues are not the problem; Washington’s insatiable appetite for unfettered spending is the problem.”

[That’s true. It’s also true that presidential budgets are almost always dead on arrival, especially if the opposing party controls the House. Congresses largely rely on baseline budgeting and their own priorities; presidential budgets are largely for show. — Ed]