White House Calls Freedom Caucus Budget ‘Extreme MAGA Republican’

The White House attacked the House Freedom Caucus’ budget Friday, calling the proposal a product of “extreme MAGA Republicans.”

“Today, extreme MAGA House Republicans showed us what they value: tax breaks for the super wealthy and wasteful spending for special interests,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said in a statement.

The House Freedom Caucus released their budget on Friday, one day after President Joe Biden released his proposal. The caucus’ budget called for ending Biden’s $400 billion student debt “relief” plan, rescinding unspent COVID-19 funds and canceling the IRS expansion and climate change spending of the “Inflation Reduction Act.”

Shrink Washington. Grow America. pic.twitter.com/vhteHNpNFS

— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 10, 2023

The caucus also proposed “finding every dollar spent by Democrats that can be reclaimed for the American taxpayer” and “setting topline discretionary spending at the FY2022 level for 10 years, allowing for 1% annual growth.”

In response, the caucus said they would consider “voting to raise the debt ceiling” — a measure Democrats want.

Jean-Pierre responded by calling their budget proposal a way to “defund the police” and “would be a gut-punch to the American middle class.”

“The House Freedom caucus’ proposal would be a gut-punch to the American middle class and wouldn’t cut the deficit. Let me repeat that: this proposal would bring devastating consequences to our national security, working families, and community safety, and result in $0 in deficit reduction when coupled with MAGA Republicans’ support for trillions in tax cuts,” Jean-Pierre said.

“Extreme MAGA Republicans’ proposals would ship manufacturing jobs overseas, in a crushing blow to states from Ohio to Georgia to Arizona – and would provide a windfall of economic benefits to China. They would increase health care premiums for nearly 15 million Americans and make the biggest Medicare benefits cut in decades, forcing America’s seniors to pay more for prescription drugs so Big Pharma can see new taxpayer handouts. They would defund the police, weaken our competition with China, and slash border security funding. All so that the super-wealthy and corporate special interests can enjoy their tax breaks and cheat on their taxes,” she added.

Biden’s budget proposal outlined a plan to hike taxes on the wealthy and a proposal to expand Medicare. (RELATED: Biden Releases Budget With New Taxes In Attempt To Reduce Deficit)

He proposed a 25% minimum tax on billionaires, quadrupling the tax on corporate stock buybacks, repealing former President Donald Trump’s tax cuts and reforming capital gains tax for those making more than $1 million.

The budget also included spending for Medicaid postpartum coverage, providing free food to low-income students and increasing the maximum Pell grant scholarships by $500.