U.S. President Joe Biden will deliver a blistering criticism of Republican policies at a speech in Virginia Beach on Tuesday afternoon where he’ll warn of GOP plans to chop access to federal health-care programs.
Speaking on the Kempsville Recreation Center, Biden will point to GOP proposals to repeal the Inexpensive Care Act and cut funding to Medicaid, two programs that just about 1 in 4 Virginians depend on for coverage.
The speech comes a bit over every week before the White Home is scheduled to present Biden’s fiscal 2024 budget to Congress and because the White House and House Republicans proceed to spar over spending cuts and the debt ceiling.
Republicans have insisted that Biden cut spending as a part of a deal to boost the debt limit — a proposition Biden won’t negotiate. While he agrees that federal spending must be curtailed, he’s vehemently against tying it to the debt ceiling. Biden met with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on the White House earlier this month to debate the subject, but no agreements were made.
Lifting the debt limit doesn’t authorize any recent spending; it allows the federal government to borrow extra money to cover existing commitments. And for the reason that federal government consistently spends greater than it takes in in tax revenue, lawmakers must periodically raise the debt ceiling. Failing to lift the debt ceiling may lead to a government default on its debt and halt each day operations, causing potential turmoil to markets and the economy.
The Treasury Department already launched a series of extraordinary steps to maintain paying the federal government’s bills, and it expects those measures might be enough to avoid default a minimum of until early June. But when Congress doesn’t raise or suspend the debt limit by then, it could wreak economic havoc world wide.
Biden has asked House Republicans to put out their very own budget proposal with the specified spending cuts before nitpicking at his. In Tuesday’s speech, the president will point to existing GOP proposals to argue that the party ultimately goals to slash those advantages.
Because McCarthy has yet to present a budget proposal, it’s unclear how most of the ideas cited by Biden are being actively considered by the House GOP. McCarthy has said cuts to the favored Social Security and Medicare programs are “off the table” in any debt ceiling talks.
