President Biden unveils 2024 budget proposal worth $6.8 trillion

President Biden has unveiled his federal budget proposal for fiscal year 2024. The White House said it will reduce the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade. 

The proposal calls for $6.8 trillion in spending. It includes $885 billion in defense spending and $1 trillion in non-defense discretionary spending. The mandatory spending for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security is the bulk of the budget, coming in at $4.2 trillion.

The president also proposed increasing Medicare and Medicaid’s ability to negotiate drug prices, eliminating tax subsidies for oil and gas companies, and investing in improvements to U.S. cybersecurity and the U.S. nuclear arsenal as a deterrent.

The president promised he will not raise taxes on any household making less than $400,000 per year. Any household above that number can expect to see a tax hike. The president’s proposal moves the top tax bracket for those making $400,000 or more to 39.6% and increases the payroll tax to fund the Medicare trust fund. It creates a 25% minimum tax for billionaires, and increases the corporate tax rate to 28%.

But Congress will ultimately negotiate the budget, and Republicans said it’s dead on arrival.

“President Biden’s FY2024 budget proposal is a roadmap to fiscal ruin. From its delayed rollout to its reckless taxes and out-of-control spending, this budget sends a clear message: President Biden doesn’t seem to give a rip about keeping his promises or securing the fiscal health of our nation,” Budget Committee ranking member Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement.

Democrats said they fully support it, and are pleased it builds off their signature legislative victory, the Inflation Reduction Act.

“This is just a great budget. It fits the needs of American families to a T,” Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., said.  

Negotiations will take place throughout the year. Lawmakers prefer to break spending bills into 13 categories and pass each one separately. If they fail to do that, they are sometimes all merged into one massive package called an omnibus. That’s usually done to avoid a government shutdown.