White House memo warns of steep cuts from GOP spending bills ahead of Biden-McCarthy meeting

The White House on Tuesday circulated a memo outlining how a series of appropriations bills set to be marked up this week by House Republicans would lead to drastic cuts in major government programs as the administration digs in for spending talks.

Shalanda Young, the head of the Office of Management and Budget, argued in a memo that cuts to discretionary spending have been at the center of House Republicans’ demands in talks about raising the debt ceiling.

While House Republicans passed legislation late last month that called for across-the-board spending freezes and cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling, the appropriations bills set to be released in the coming days “will give us a clear roadmap for how their draconian cuts will end up affecting the American people.”

Office of Management and Budget Director Shalanda Young testifies before the House Appropriations Committee on Budget and Oversight hearing to examine proposed budget estimates and justification for the 2024 fiscal year on Capitol Hill Thursday, March 23, 2023, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

Young wrote the House bill that already passed set overall spending for fiscal 2024 at the same level as fiscal 2022. To make that math work, she wrote, Republicans would have to cut spending by 9 percent across the board.

But if Republicans opted not to cut spending for Defense, Veterans Affairs, and Homeland Security, the estimated impact would be a cut of 30 percent to all other areas, Young wrote.

The result would be slashed funding for schools with low-income students and students with disabilities, reduced access to opioid treatment, eliminated child care for hundreds of thousands of children, worsened wait times for Social Security and Medicare, increased housing costs and a drop in funding for cancer research, Young wrote.

“House Republicans can do this math as well as anyone,” Young wrote. “They are absolutely aware of these very calculations.”

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Young’s memo was released hours before President Biden was scheduled to host Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) at the White House for talks about raising the debt ceiling.

The Treasury Department has signaled the U.S. risks defaulting if the debt ceiling is not raised by June 1, giving the White House and lawmakers a reduced time frame to find a solution.

While the White House has said the debt ceiling should be raised by Congress with no conditions tied to spending cuts, Biden has in recent days signaled there may be areas of potential agreement on lowering spending.

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