The White House stepped up its offensive against a House Freedom Caucus budget proposal as it seeks to drive a wedge between Republicans in negotiations over the debt ceiling.
Asked during a press briefing on Friday why President Joe Biden has claimed he will not accept any entitlements cuts even as Republican leaders say they are not proposing any, White House Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young pushed back.
“Who are you going to listen to? Are you going to listen to the Freedom Caucus?” Young told reporters at the White House.
FREEDOM CAUCUS REVEALS LIST OF DEMANDS IN DEBT CEILING FIGHT AFTER BIDEN BUDGET RELEASED
The group of congressional Republicans has issued demands for steeper spending cuts ahead of the negotiations that, if enacted, threaten to unwind large swathes of Biden’s economic agenda, with the president’s press secretary calling the plan “a gut punch to the American middle class.”
Republicans are expected to use the negotiations over the debt to draw concessions from Biden, who unveiled his proposed budget for fiscal 2024 on Thursday, requesting $6.8 trillion for spending on social programs and other priorities.
The effort has prompted Biden to unleash a preemptive onslaught against Republicans, repeatedly warning about threats to entitlements and singling out “the former Trump budget director” behind the Freedom Caucus proposal.
White House aides have sought to exploit differences inside the GOP caucus as it navigates its response to the White House.
“Please RT :)” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates wrote in an email to reporters that shared a tweet from Sen. Rick Scott (R-FL) endorsing the Freedom Caucus budget proposal.
Scott became a target of Biden and the White House over the senator’s “Rescue America” plan, which called for sunsetting federal legislation after five years. Scott’s plan didn’t specify Social Security and Medicare, but the programs were created by federal law and would appear to be subject to the same need for reauthorization. Republicans moved to distance themselves from the plan.
After needling the party on the issue for months, Biden set off an exchange during his State of the Union address that prompted some GOP members in the audience to loudly push back against the claim. Biden quipped at the time that he “[enjoys] conversion.”
In the statement Friday, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre swiped at the plan as an “extreme MAGA … attack on Medicare, law enforcement and manufacturing.”
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She warned that if adopted, congressional Republicans would “ship manufacturing jobs overseas,” “make the biggest Medicare benefits cut in decades,” and “defund the police.”
The focus on American jobs, public safety, and entitlements suggests the White House views its promise to protect these as a potent political message as Biden approaches a decision over his reelection bid in 2024.
