Former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley blasted President Biden’s “spending addiction” on Monday after the White House released a proposed $5.8 trillion budget for 2023.
Mr. Biden’s budget, with $1.6 trillion in discretionary spending, including $649 billion for domestic programs and $813 billion for defense, would come in $1.3 trillion under the 2022 budget thanks largely to expiring COVID-19 programs.
Still, the proposed Biden budget calls for adding $14.4 trillion to the deficit over the next decade, resulting in debt reaching a record-high 106.7% of gross domestic product, according to the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Budget.
In comments made exclusively to The Washington Times, Mrs. Haley said the runaway spending is unsustainable and called on Congress to put its foot down.
“Biden’s go-to for solving problems is to spend more money or raise taxes,” she said. “Washington’s spending addiction has led us to the inflation mess we are in, and Congress must fight to reign in the waste and hold the Biden administration accountable.”
“American families have to live within their means,” Mrs. Haley said. “Our government should have to do the same.”
Mrs. Haley, who served two years as U.S. ambassador under President Trump and was the first female governor of South Carolina, is considered a prospective Republican presidential contender for 2024.
She joined a chorus of Republican lawmakers Monday who pounced on the White House for describing Monday’s proposal as a deficit-reduction budget.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, South Carolina Republican, accused the president of using “shell games and budget gimmicks” to obscure the true cost to taxpayers and passing off expiring COVID-19 programs as a deficit reduction.
“The Biden budget is not serious about deficit reduction,” said Mr. Graham, the top Republican on the Senate Budget Committee. “Under the Biden plan, deficits continue climbing … culminating in a nearly $1.8 trillion deficit in the final year of the budget.”
The Committee for a Responsible Budget applauds Mr. Biden’s proposal to reduce deficit spending below current levels, but they say far more must be done.
“Unfortunately, this budget leaves debt on an unsustainable path, and lacks important details on how it would structure the core of its agenda or address provisions scheduled to expire,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. “Even taking the budget at its word, debt would rise to a new record by the end of the decade.”
• Joseph Clark can be reached at jclark@washingtontimes.com.
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