US budget targets Trump’s fiscal mess, raises taxes for rich

WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. President Joe Biden on Monday submitted a $5.79 trillion budget plan to Congress that calls for record peacetime military spending and further aid for Ukraine, while raising taxes for billionaires and companies and lowering government deficits.

The budget proposal for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1, lays out Biden’s priorities, including campaign promises to make the wealthy and companies pay more tax. It is merely a wish list as lawmakers on Capitol Hill make the final decisions on budget matters.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Congress looked forward to working on Biden’s “bold fiscal blueprint,” even as some fellow Democrats chafed at Biden’s pledge to boost military spending. Biden’s plan drew immediate criticism from Republicans, who together with moderate Democrats, killed similar tax proposals in the 2022 budget.

“The budget I am releasing today sends a clear message to the American

people (about) what we value: first, fiscal responsibility, second, safety and security, and thirdly … the investments needed to build a better America,” Biden told reporters at the White House.

The Democratic president said he was calling for higher defense spending to strengthen the U.S. military and “forcefully respond to (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s aggression against Ukraine” with $1 billion in additional U.S. support for Ukraine’s economic, humanitarian, and security needs.

The document, based on economic projections locked in before the war in Ukraine, offers fresh insight into Biden’s thinking as he prepares for a Nov. 8 midterm election that could see his Democratic Party lose control of Congress.

Biden told reporters his administration is “making real headway cleaning up the fiscal mess I inherited”, and will reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.3 trillion this year with $1 trillion in further cuts planned over the next decade.