White House to release budget proposal on March 9

The White House will release its budget proposal for next fiscal year on March 9, officials said Tuesday, as they pressure Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) to release a detailed budget of his own outlining House Republicans’ spending plans.

The White House on Tuesday circulated a memo from National Economic Council Director Brian Deese and Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young ahead of President Biden’s meeting with McCarthy on the debt ceiling. The two officials confirmed Biden would unveil his budget for fiscal 2024 in early March.

“President Biden will release a budget on March 9,” Deese and Young wrote. “It is essential that Speaker McCarthy likewise commit to releasing a budget, so that the American people can see how House Republicans plan to reduce the deficit — whether through Social Security cuts; cuts to Medicare, Medicaid, and Affordable Care Act (ACA) health coverage; and/or cuts to research, education, and public safety — as well as how much their Budget will add to the deficit with tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and large corporations, as in their first bill this year.”

The president’s proposed budget is typically seen as a messaging document about the administration’s priorities and is often disregarded by lawmakers as they seek to pass funding bills through Congress.

But in this case, White House officials are using the release of the budget to lean on McCarthy to be transparent about whether he wants to cut programs like Social Security and Medicare as members of his caucus call for spending cuts.

Biden and McCarthy will meet Wednesday at the White House to discuss the debt ceiling, which lawmakers must raise in the coming months or risk a government default that could wreck the economy. Some Republicans have signaled they plan to use the debt ceiling negotiations as leverage to secure spending cuts and reforms to government programs.

Asked about his message to McCarthy ahead of the meeting, Biden told reporters Monday: “You show me your budget, I’ll show you mine.”