President Biden to Propose $3 Trillion in Deficit Reductions

By Yehudit Garmaise

Two months after US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen initiated extreme measures to prevent the US from defaulting on its debts, today, President Joe Biden is expected to announce policies that will cut federal budget deficits by $3 trillion throughout the next 10 years.

The Biden administration’s sudden concern with US debt reduction comes in the wake of a fight with Congressional Republicans who have refused to raise the nation’s debt limit unless the president agrees to slow down his rapid-fire spending since taking office.

The Republicans seek to stop the president from increasing the nation’s deficit, which has grown from $1.375 trillion to $1.41 trillion, as the costs of providing Medicare and Social Security benefits continue to rise.

In addition to the nation’s deficit, which is the annual difference between government spending and government revenue, the federal government also must pay back a $31.4 trillion debt, which is the total amount the US government owes.

If Biden continues to push up the maximum amount of funds the US government is legally entitled to borrow and spend at his current rate, the country will fall further and further in the red.

Although Biden has many times said he will not cut benefits for Social Security, nor Medicare, the president plans to increase federal revenues and reduce the nation’s reliance on borrowed money by announcing new taxes on corporations and the rich: namely families that are worth more than $100 million, the New York Times reported.

Biden has not yet explained how he chose the $3 trillion figure for his budget’s deficit reduction, or whether he agrees with Republicans who claim that the nation’s current levels of debt and deficits pose a risk to the economy.

“The president understands his fiscal responsibility,” said Karine Jean-Pierre, the White House press secretary without explaining more. “He understands how important it is to lower the deficit.” 

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