April 09, 2021

Smith Statement on Biden’s Back-of-the-Envelope Budget

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, House Budget Committee Republican Leader Jason Smith (MO-08) issued the following statement in response to the Biden Administration’s release of a discretionary spending outline for Fiscal Year 2022. The outline comes nearly 70 days after the statutory deadline for the President to submit a budget and after President Biden has already taken multiple executive actions that have substantial fiscal, economic, and national security impacts and signed nearly $2 trillion in new deficit spending into law. Noticeably absent in the budget outline is an accounting of the trillions more in spending and taxes announced by the Biden Administration last week.

“It took the Biden Administration longer than any other administration in the modern budget era to produce what is essentially a back-of-the-envelope bookkeeping exercise combined with a series of talking points and a troubling lack of transparency. Washington Democrats have been pushing trillions in additional spending and massive tax hikes. President Biden owes the American people a full accounting of the impact of such policies.

“The President’s proposal shows an Administration that is less interested in the primary responsibility of the federal government, to ensure the safety and security of the American people, while it looks to further fuel growth of government in those areas that enhance Washington’s control and interference in the lives and livelihoods of the American people – many areas that have received billions in funding in just the past few months. We can have essential services that are there for those who need them when they need them while also having a government that leaves citizens free to lead their own lives, work together as a community, and make decisions for their families absent a bunch of Washington dictates.

“From everything we have seen and heard, President Biden’s policies will only grow Washington’s power and coercive influence which harms America’s working class.”

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