Biden Seeks $5.8-Trillion Budget To Fund Military, Tame Inflation

President Biden proposed a $5.8 trillion budget on Monday, a request that reflected growing security and economic concerns at home and overseas, with billions set aside to invest in police departments and the military along with new taxes on the wealthiest Americans, Zolan Kanno-Youngs and Alan Rappeport reported for the New York Times.

Photo Insert: US President Joe Biden proposed spending roughly $1.6 trillion on domestic investments for fiscal year 2023.

In the second budget request of his presidency, Biden proposed spending roughly $1.6 trillion on domestic investments for fiscal year 2023 — a 7 percent increase over current levels — including extra funding for affordable housing, anti-gun violence initiatives, and manufacturing investments to address supply chain issues that have helped fuel rapid inflation.

The document also outlined plans to reduce the nation’s budget deficit by $1 trillion over the next decade, in part through higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans.

Biden will request $813.3 billion in national security spending, an increase of $31 billion, or 4 percent, from 2022.

Funding for the Defense Department will also include $4.1 billion to conduct research and develop defense capabilities, nearly $5 billion for a space-based missile warning system to detect global threats, and nearly $2 billion for a missile defense interceptor to protect the US against ballistic missile threats from states like North Korea and Iran.

He also called for new taxes on the rich, including a minimum tax on billionaires. That proposal, which needs congressional approval, would require that American households worth more than $100 million pay a rate of at least 20 percent on their income as well as unrealized gains in the value of their liquid assets, such as stocks and bonds, which can accumulate value for years but are taxed only when they are sold.

The $360 billion in tax revenue that the White House projects would raise could also be directed toward the president’s broader agenda. The White House budget also calls for other tax increases on the rich.

It would raise the top individual income tax rate to 39.6 percent from 37 percent. And Mr. Biden also wants to increase the corporate tax rate to 28 percent from 21 percent.

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