The White House on Monday issued a statement of administration policy, threatening to veto a proposed spending bill for military construction and veterans’ affairs from House Republicans. The White House argues that the bill deviates from an agreement made during debt ceiling talks and is a partisan spending proposal.
The White House expressed disappointment in House Republicans, stating that they had the opportunity to engage in a bipartisan appropriations process but instead chose to focus on partisan bills that would cut domestic spending to levels well below the Fiscal Responsibility Act agreement. They believe that these cuts would jeopardize critical services such as climate change and clean energy programs, essential nutrition services, law enforcement, consumer safety, education, and healthcare.
The Biden administration is concerned that the House GOP proposals would result in additional cuts from the Inflation Reduction Act, which is focused on climate and healthcare initiatives and was passed with Democratic votes last year.
In addition, the White House argues that the House Republican bill would have devastating consequences, including harming access to reproductive healthcare, threatening the health and safety of LGBTQI+ Americans, endangering marriage equality, hindering critical climate change initiatives, and impeding the administration’s efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.
The statement concludes by affirming the administration’s readiness to engage in a bipartisan appropriations process with both chambers of Congress to pass responsible spending bills that fully fund federal agencies in a timely manner.
In a separate statement, the administration also stated that President Biden would veto a proposed agriculture spending bill for similar reasons of deeper cuts than agreed upon during debt ceiling talks earlier this year.
Lawmakers are scheduled to discuss the military construction and agriculture appropriations bills this week.
In May, the White House and Republican leaders reached a deal that included lifting the debt ceiling and avoiding default. As part of the agreement, nondefense discretionary spending is to be rolled back to fiscal 2022 levels, with top-line federal spending limited to 1 percent annual growth for six years.