The White House attempting to pin an unsecured southern border to Republican budget policies is a “smear” and “denial” from the administration, House Freedom Caucus Chair Scott Perry told the Daily Caller in a statement.
The White House released a statement Monday blaming the House Freedom Caucus’ proposed budget for trying to “defund the police” and “make our border less secure.” The statement cited an analysis from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) stating the caucus’ plan to freeze “topline discretionary spending at the FY2022 level for 10 years” without “cutting Social Security, Medicare, defense, and some veterans’ benefits” would lead to an elimination of “everything in the rest of the Federal budget.”
Perry responded, “President Biden suddenly taking interest in border security as a means to rail against the House Freedom Caucus budget is like a pyromaniac suddenly taking interest in fire prevention.”
“It’s all more fear and smear, deception and denial from an administration that has utterly failed to protect the American People,” the Republican Pennsylvania representative added.
The caucus also released a tweet outlining their response.
“President Biden is responsible for throwing America’s border into chaos… But says the House Freedom Caucus is undermining border security? Laughable. We’re going after the wasteful, woke and weaponized federal bureaucracy and the spending that fuels it. Not border security,” their tweet read.
President Biden is responsible for throwing America’s border into chaos…
But says the House Freedom Caucus is undermining border security?
Laughable.
We’re going after the wasteful, woke and weaponized federal bureaucracy and the spending that fuels it. Not border security. https://t.co/cvEQi13eqD
— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 20, 2023
The House Freedom Caucus released their budget March 10, one day after Biden released his. 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.” (RELATED: White House Calls Freedom Caucus Budget ‘Extreme MAGA Republican’)
Shrink Washington. Grow America. pic.twitter.com/vhteHNpNFS
— House Freedom Caucus (@freedomcaucus) March 10, 2023
The Biden administration argued that the caucus’ proposal would lead to defunding “more than 2,000 Customs and Border Protection agents,” eliminating “funding for 11,000 FBI personnel,” “fewer rail safety inspection days” and the shutting down “125 Air Traffic Control Towers across the country.”
“The extreme MAGA Republican House Freedom Caucus proposal will be a five-alarm fire for families—including by endangering public safety. While the President’s Budget proposes smart investments to improve public safety, strengthen border security, and improve the safety of our transportation networks, extreme MAGA Republicans are pushing draconian cuts to these critical national priorities that would endanger Americans’ safety,” the White House statement read.
The Biden administration has experienced record-high illegal immigrant encounters near the southern border after the president ordered a halt on the construction of the wall started under the Trump administration. Crime skyrocketed across the U.S. in 2020, and Biden has recently taken a more vocal stance on ensuring public safety, as seen in his response to the Washington, D.C., crime bill.
The White House did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Daily Caller.