White House hammers House GOP over budget proposals as lawmakers return from recess

The White House on Tuesday went on offense against House Republicans, accusing them of breaking an agreement reached during debt ceiling negotiations and pushing budget cuts that would harm the economy and families.

Shalanda Young, director of the Office of Management and Budget, wrote in a memo that while the White House, House Democrats and senators in both parties have stood by the contours of the agreement brokered in May, House Republicans have instead pursued more partisan budget bills.

“Their appropriations bills violate the bipartisan budget agreement and instead push the same deep cuts the House Freedom Caucus has been demanding since the start of this year,” Young wrote in a memo to interested parties.

“The consequences of these bills would be devastating: raising a host of costs for families; hurting students, seniors, and rural communities; slashing support for law enforcement; undermining our economy; and more,” Young added. “Also, this effort by House Republicans distracts from other top priorities, like the need to act on the President’s request for more funding to fight the fentanyl crisis.”

Young’s memo cited various programs that would face cuts if House GOP budget bills were enacted. Those appropriations bills would cut funding for law enforcement, slash funding for schools with low-income students, raise housing costs, undermine government efforts to reduce lead exposure and pollution and reduce support for teachers, Young wrote.

The White House and top House Republicans reached a deal in May to lift the debt ceiling for two years and apply new caps on federal spending over the same duration.

The White House also planned to release fact sheets for all 50 states diving into how House Republicans’ plans would specifically affect public safety and public health for families living there.

The Biden administration has already vowed to veto House GOP spending bills put forward on agriculture, defense and military construction and veterans’ affairs. Those pieces of legislation are unlikely to make it to the president’s desk, as they must pass through the narrowly divided House and Senate.

Still, the memo sent out Tuesday underscores the fight over funding that will take center stage in Washington, D.C., in the coming weeks as the threat of a government shutdown looms at the end of the month.

The hard-line conservative House Freedom Caucus last month vowed to vote against any government funding bill, including a stopgap measure, that doesn’t include a list of GOP policy priorities.