DES MOINES, Iowa – U.S. Senators Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, blasted President Joe Biden’s budget for Fiscal Year 2022 that was released on Friday.
Biden proposed a $6 trillion budget that represents a massive increase in government spending. The budget would require deficit spending of $1.3 trillion a year for the rest of the decade even with tax increases on wealthy Americans.
Included in the budget are:
- $1.5 trillion discretionary budget that increases funding for education, the Internal Revenue Service, and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
- $2.3 trillion for Biden’s American Jobs Plan that Republicans say invests in more than just infrastructure. Biden is currently negotiating infrastructure spending with Republicans who offered a tailored plan focused solely on physical infrastructure spending that amounts to $928 billion.
- $1.8 trillion for Biden’s American Families Plan which includes spending on universal preschool and two years of free community college.
Grassley pointed out the timing for the budget’s release.
“It’s one of the oldest tricks in the Washington playbook: wait until Friday afternoon before a three-day holiday weekend to put out bad news, and hope the American people don’t notice. This strategy tells us all we need to know about President Biden’s budget proposal,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this budget proposal is months late and rather than addressing our unsustainable national debt, it exacerbates it by proposing the highest sustained levels of federal spending since World War II. This budget is the same as his other proposals thus far; a liberal wish list of exorbitant spending and job killing tax hikes. All Americans would pay the price for policies that would lead to reduced economic growth, lower wages and fewer jobs,” Grassley added.
Ernst also balked at the spending increases.
“President Biden’s budget can be summed up like this: higher taxes, higher spending, higher debt,” she said. “As much as the Administration would like to convince the American people otherwise, money does not grow on trees and nothing is free. From increasing spending to the highest levels since WWII to keeping the Pentagon’s budget near stagnant as our nation faces new threats around the globe, this plan is radically out of touch with the American people. President Biden’s budget is a bust for taxpayers and a boon for D.C. bureaucrats and tax collectors.”
