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President Biden on Thursday challenged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy’s rejection of his proposed 2024 budget by urging the California Republican to put forth a plan and see where they agree.
Speaking at a union hall in Philadelphia just hours after he released his budget for fiscal year 2024, Mr. Biden called out Republicans for demanding spending cuts without specifying what they would slash.
It’s a political gamesmanship move by the president to pressure Republicans into proposing cuts that he believes Americans will oppose.
“Show me your budget. I’ll tell you what’s your value,” Mr. Biden said.
The president recounted his February meeting with Mr. McCarthy in which he proposed that each side release a budget and then sit down and go through the rival budgets line by line. Mr. Biden said that any disagreements could be resolved by Congress. He renewed that call on Thursday.
“So I want to make it clear, I’m ready to meet with the speaker anytime, tomorrow if he has his budget,” Mr. Biden said. “Lay it down, tell me what you want to do. I’ll show you what I want to do — see what we can agree on and what we don’t agree on. Let’s just see what we voted on.”
Mr. Biden released his budget Thursday seeking a record $6.8 trillion in spending and proposing an array of new taxes that would put roughly $5.5 trillion into the government’s coffers over 10 years.
Mr. McCarthy did not immediately respond to the president’s call for a meeting, but earlier Thursday he slammed the president’s budget as “completely unserious.”
“He proposes trillions in new taxes that you and your family will pay directly or through higher costs. Mr. President: Washington has a spending problem, not a revenue problem,” Mr. McCarthy said in a tweet.
