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White House aides are preparing to propose spending roughly $50 billion on urgent domestic needs, two people familiar with the matter said, just days after President Biden unveiled a roughly $100 billion request for crises in Ukraine, Israel and other international priorities.
The proposed legislation will call for more funding for child care, high-speed internet access, natural disaster relief, and firefighters battling wildfires, among other domestic priorities, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda D. Young said in a letter Friday. It is not exactly clear how much funding the president will propose for each program, and the people familiar with the matter cautioned that planning remains in flux. They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the details are not final, and the size of the total proposal could still change.
Coming as the president focuses his attention on the Israel-Gaza war, the proposal reflects urgent domestic needs as well as the administration’s attempt to show that Biden is working to improve the U.S. economy, a source of dissatisfaction among many voters. The legislation is highly unlikely to pass a Republican-controlled House, where hard-line members have demanded aggressive cuts to government services, but it may help the administration respond to a potential political vulnerability. Some Democrats want Biden to push for action on domestic legislation while also supporting U.S. allies abroad.
[U.S. readies plans for mass evacuations if Gaza war escalates]
On Friday, the White House unveiled an approximately $106 billion aid package primarily focused on funding for Ukraine and Israel, while also calling for billions in aid for the U.S.-Mexico border and global humanitarian assistance. Its fate is also unclear in Congress, but that bill is much more likely to garner bipartisan support.
A spokeswoman for the Office of Management and Budget declined to comment.
“They can put something out there to say, ‘We want child care or maybe something on health care and homelessness,’ but they know they’re not going to get anything through this Congress beyond maybe something small,” said Dean Baker, a White House ally and economist at the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a left-leaning think tank. “But I think it makes sense for Biden to throw something out there when Republicans are saying that Democrats care more about people in Ukraine and Israel than they do about the people here.”
Biden’s request will call for Congress to avert several looming funding cliffs facing government programs. Millions of parents are expected to lose access to child care as states run out of $24 billion in stimulus dollars approved during the pandemic. Tens of millions of low-income households also stand to lose high-speed internet access as funds dwindle for the Affordable Connectivity Program.
Although there is bipartisan support for Israel in Congress, several Republicans have criticized Biden’s $106 billion aid package for trying to package it with aid to Ukraine. Former president Donald Trump blasted Biden for proposing to give Ukraine what he called a “blank check.”
“Crooked Joe went before the American people and said that if you want to support Israel, then you have to give a blank check for the proxy war also in Ukraine, having to do with Russia and Ukraine,” Trump said at a rally on Monday, according to the Washington Examiner.
On Monday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) also insisted that Congress should not only push for foreign aid but should address urgent funding shortfalls in the United States.
“Congress cannot approve BILLIONS in a supplemental budget that ONLY addresses critical emergencies around the world,” Sanders said in a statement. “We have crises here at home too.”