Biden Budget Proposal Would Dramatically Shift US Spending Priorities

WASHINGTON - The Biden administration released an outline Friday of how it wants the federal government to spend its money in Fiscal 2022, and if anyone was surprised by the contents, they must not have been paying attention.

Biden campaigned on promises to invest in education, jobs, health care and the environment, and the 58-page summary, covering the roughly one-third of federal spending considered discretionary — meaning not required by statute, like Medicare and Social Security payments — does precisely that. The plan will delight many on the political left by restoring funding to agencies whose budgets had been slashed by former President Donald Trump. The Department of Education would see its budget leap by 41% compared to Fiscal 2021, the Commerce Department would get a 28% increase, the Department of Health and Human Services would get a 24% increase, and the Environmental Protection Agency’s budget would rise by 21%. At the same time, some Democrats and virtually all Republicans will balk at a low rate of increase in defense spending. More broadly, Republicans will likely object to spending on Democratic priorities like clean energy research and efforts to alleviate economic inequality.