WASHINGTON (Reuters) – President Joe Biden released a $7.3 trillion proposed U.S. government budget for the 2025 fiscal year on Monday, including tax, spending and economic forecasts for the world’s largest economy.
Here are highlights of the proposal:
IMMIGRATION
The proposal includes an increase in funding for immigration-related spending as polling shows voters concerned about U.S.-Mexico border crossings by undocumented migrants.
The White House reiterated its unfulfilled request last year for $13.6 billion in emergency funds for border enforcement to pay for more Border Patrol agents, asylum officers and immigration court judge teams.
DEFENSE
Biden’s $895 billion national security budget calls for fewer stealthy F-35 fighter jets and Virginia-class submarines, first reported by Reuters, after a meager 1% increase allowed under caps agreed with Republicans last year left fewer than expected funds.
Biden also renewed his demand for funding on border security, Israel, Ukraine, Taiwan and other national security issues that has been stalled by Republican congressional leadership for months.
HEALTHCARE
The Biden administration’s request for a 1.7% increase to $130.7 billion for the Department of Health and Human Services would facilitate extending health benefits he has secured for people aged 65 and older in the Medicare program to the general population, including those covered by Obamacare insurance or plans from their employer.
Healthcare costs are seen as one of the key issues in November’s general election, and Biden’s budget proposes extending his wins in the Inflation Reduction Act: a $2,000 annual cap on out-of-pocket costs for all prescription drugs, a $35 monthly cap on out-of-pocket costs for insulin and capping drug price increases at inflation.
He also wants Medicare to be able to negotiate the prices of more drugs and sooner after they hit the market.
CRIME
The budget allocates $1.2 billion over five years in a new violent crime reduction and prevention fund to support law enforcement agencies, helping them hire new detectives to solve homicides, expand fentanyl seizures and hire prosecutors and forensic specialists.
The funding is part of a package to boost efforts to combat crime as Republicans have worked to portray Democrats as aligned with a movement Biden has long denounced to “defund the police.” Crime is a regular election-year topic, although the latest data showed violent crime in the U.S. decreased an estimated 1.7% in 2022.
THE COST OF FOOD
The Department of Agriculture budget requests $7.7 billion for the Women, Infants and Children nutrition program, up $1.4 billion from last year’s request, reflecting pressure on the program caused by higher participation and rising food costs.
The budget also requests $6 billion for climate-related programs, including for hiring thousands of employees to implement Inflation Reduction Act programs, and a 20% increase to $365 million for agricultural research and education.
ECONOMIC FORECASTS
White House forecasts showed increasing optimism that the U.S. economy is having a “soft landing,” reining in inflation without causing a recession. Biden said last week that he expected the Federal Reserve to begin cutting interest rates.
The White House forecast 1.7% real GDP growth in 2024, and 1.8% in 2025, rising to 2.2% by 2030. Forecast consumer price inflation was 2.9% in 2024 and 2.3% in 2025.
They also saw 4% unemployment, a figure that falls to 3.8% later in the decade, which they said matches full unemployment.
The forecasts were set in November, and officials said the figures would be more optimistic if they were fixed today.
(Reporting by Trevor Hunnicutt, Ahmed Aboulenein, Ted Hesson and Leah Douglas; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
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