White House dismisses budget proposal from Freedom Caucus

The White House dismissed a budget proposal from the Congressional Freedom Caucus this week, calling it a tax break for the ultra-wealthy and pointing out that it would result in “wasteful spending.”

The MAGA-leaning Republican Freedom Caucus presented its own set of budget proposals on Friday that consisted of plans to cut spending across the board, cutting overall spending by $131 billion over the next ten years by keeping fiscal discretionary spending at 2022 levels and only allowing for 1 percent growth per year over the same period. 

White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt dismissed the plan, saying it would lead to wasteful spending and would not reduce the national deficit at all. “MAGA House Republicans are proposing, if spread evenly across affected discretionary programs, at least a 20 [percent] across the board cut,” LaBolt said in a statement. “The one thing MAGA Republicans do want to protect are tax cuts for the super-wealthy. “This means that their plan, with all of the sacrifices they are asking of working-class Americans, will reduce the deficit by…$0.”

LaBolt pointed out that under the Freedom Caucus’ plan, police and border control spending would be cut along with everything else, undermining one of the Caucus’ main complaints against the Biden administration and Democrats.

President Biden unveiled his own budget proposal last week and urged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy to meet with him and present his own budget plan when he is ready. Thus far, McCarthy and House Republicans have not revealed any of their own budget plans.