April 9 (UPI) — President Joe Biden submitted his first budget request to Congress on Friday, in which he’s proposing a 16% increase in domestic spending and asking for less defense spending than former President Donald Trump did.
In the 58-page $1.52 trillion budget request for 2022, more money would go toward domestic programs to reduce poverty, strengthen environmental protection and aid public education.
The proposal includes a 1.5% increase in the amount last approved by Congress, but it asks for an amount lower ($715 billion) than Trump did ($722 billion) in his final budget request last year.
Biden’s proposed defense spending, compared to increases under Trump in recent years, is expected to draw criticism from congressional Republicans as insufficient and progressive Democrats as excessive. Some in the president’s party have called for up to a 10% cut in Pentagon funding.
The federal government will need a new funding agreement before federal money runs out at the end of September. Typically, Congress considers the president’s budget request when drawing up new budget resolutions, but they are not binding. The government’s 2022 fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The budget request comes as Biden also seeks trillions of dollars in new infrastructure spending. The president outlined his $2 trillion infrastructure plan last week, declaring it a “big” and “bold” proposal that’s essential to the economic future of the United States
Biden’s administration has said the lack of cooperation from Trump and his departments during the transition created delays in generating a formal budget request.
A complete budget outline that includes tax proposals and spending for programs like Social Security will be released later this spring.
Other details of Biden’s budget request:
- A $20 billion increase in funding for Title 1 schools, which would be the largest since the program was created by President Lyndon Johnson. Title 1 schools are those in which children from low-income families make up at least 40% of enrollment.
- An additional $14 billion in climate change mitigation funding for almost all federal agencies.
- A $2 billion increase for the Environmental Protection Agency, which saw decreases in funding during Trump’s presidency.
- A total of $1.2 billion for border security technology, but no money for border wall construction.
