President Biden proposed a $5.8 trillion budget on Monday that includes increases in funding for the military and police departments, along with higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.
Mr. Biden is proposing a 7 percent increase in domestic spending that includes priorities like anti-gun violence initiatives, affordable housing and manufacturing investments to address supply chain issues that have helped fuel rapid inflation. For the first time, the White House proposed a stream of funding for Veterans Affairs medical care.
Mr. Biden's military proposal increased by 10 percent amid threats like Russia's invasion of Ukraine and concerns about China's ambitions. The request included billions to detect and intercept missiles from hostile nations like North Korea and Iran, along with $6.9 billion to help NATO counter threats from Russia and elsewhere.
The White House budget proposal put less emphasis on grand social, climate and economic policies that Mr. Biden announced last year but have since run into resistance from moderate Democrats.
The budget continued the president's pivot from his State of the Union address, which focused less on the sweeping ambitions of his first year in office and more on issues that worry swing-state Democrats.
The shift is a nod to centrists in Congress, who have called on the White House to prioritize practical solutions to economic issues affecting the lives of voters as the party heads into what is expected to be a tough fight to keep control of the House and Senate.
Budgets are statements of values, and the budget I am releasing today sends a clear message that we value fiscal responsibility, safety and security at home and around the world, and the investments needed to continue our equitable growth and build a better America.
Moderate Democrats like Senator Joe Manchin III of West Virginia were concerned that the president focused on deficit reduction instead of calling for expansive new spending plans. The goal of the budget is to narrow the gap between what America spends and what it takes in. Raising taxes on the rich and corporations would bring in some of the new revenue.
The president's approval ratings have been hurt by rapid inflation as families face higher prices for gas, food and housing. The White House pointed to several proposals, including funds for port infrastructure development and money to help with financing the construction and rehabilitation of inexpensive housing stock, as measures that might help bring prices down by improving supply over time.
Reducing gun violence and violent crimes was a central focus of Mr. Biden's budget. The White House proposed $30 billion for police departments and community-based anti-violence programs and set aside $367 million for the Justice Department to support police reform, prosecute hate crimes and protect voting rights.
The answer isn't to defund our police departments. Mr. Biden said it was to fund the police and give them the tools they needed.
They need psychologists in the department as much as they need extra rifles, according to Mr. Biden. Some progressives have accused Mr. Biden of not investing enough in police departments.
The F.B.I. and cracking down on gun trafficking would cost more than $17 billion. The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency, which Mr. Biden promised to reform during the campaign, would get more than $8 billion.
The proposal reflected the uncertainty of Mr. Biden's domestic agenda. Expanding health care coverage, addressing the high cost of prescription drugs, and directing spending toward climate change and child care were not offered price tags or revenue assessments by the administration.
Shalanda D. Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said the omission was intentional to leave a space for revenues specifically to allow congressional negotiators the room to do what President Biden has asked.
The current form of Mr. Biden's budget makes it unlikely that it will become law. The budget was applauded by many Democrats, but Congress will have to pass legislation to fund the government past Oct. 1, when the new fiscal year begins. Republicans were quick to condemn the budget, but it will require bipartisan support to clear the 60-vote threshold in the Senate.
Legislators expressed concerns about the proposal. The chairman of the Budget Committee, an independent from Vermont, was critical of Mr. Biden's plans to increase military spending.
At a time when we are already spending more on the military than the next 11 countries combined, we do not need a massive increase in the defense budget.
The cost of financing the war in Afghanistan was one of the arguments made by Mr. Biden last year. The need to maintain security has been highlighted by the situation in Ukraine. During his trip to Europe last week, Mr. Biden made it clear that the United States would defend NATO partners.
The budget includes funds for modernizing nuclear weapons programs, including the development of a new class of missiles for the Navy. Sexual assault prosecutions within the armed forces would be handled by independent legal offices.
Under the proposed budget, both uniformed and civilian members of the Defense Department would get a pay raise.
The president did address some of the issues outlined in the social-safety and climate bill, but he didn't give any plans for the future. The budget would increase the Education Department's student debt lending service by 43 percent.
Mr. Biden focused on issues that his aides believed could get support from Democrats and Republicans, such as addressing the opioid epidemic and cancer, and requiring private insurers to cover mental health.
The White House's choice to not explain the budgetary effect of some of its domestic policy proposals would leave Democrats in the dark, according to Ben Ritz, director of the Center for Funding America's Future.
Mr. Ritz said that Democrats cannot afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good.
The budget watchdogs said they were happy to see Mr. Biden propose to lower the deficit, but found his proposal lacking.
The goal is good, but the path is questionable, according to Robert L. Bixby, the executive director of the Concord Coalition. This is not a normal combination of factors.
A new minimum tax on billionaires is one of the things that would come from the projected deficit reduction. The proposal would require American households worth more than $100 million to pay a tax rate of at least 20 percent on their income as well as their unrealized gains in the value of their liquid assets, which can accumulate value for years but are taxed only when.
The top marginal income tax rate was proposed to be increased to 39.6% from 37 percent and the corporate tax rate was proposed to be raised to 28 percent from 21 percent. Republicans approved some tax cuts in the summer of last year.
The budget wassailed by Republicans as reckless, saying it would cause inflation and deter investment.
With 40-year-high inflation running rampant and causing increasing pain on the American people, this budget was an opportunity for President Biden to acknowledge reality and put the interests of Americans over his big-government agenda.
The international security situation has changed dramatically over the last month, and Representative John Yarmuth, a Kentucky Democrat who heads the House Budget Committee, supports the focus on the military.
John Ismay and Jonathan Weisman contributed to the report.
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