WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Biden administration put the House appropriations bills passed last month on blast Tuesday, claiming Republicans’ drastic cuts in major government programs including healthcare, education and veterans’ programs, according to a memo obtained by NewsNation.
“The bill House Republicans passed last month is vague by design and does not explain how their proposed cuts would be dispersed throughout appropriations bills — leaving the American people to wonder which programs will be on the chopping block,” the memo sent by Shalanda Young, the director of the Office of Management and Budget, said.
The administration conducted an extensive analysis of the bills, saying if Republicans “keep their word” by not cutting defense spending, the cuts would severely impact education, public safety and veterans’ healthcare.
Young wrote the House bill that already passed set overall spending for fiscal 2024 at the same level as fiscal 2022. To make that math work, she wrote, Republicans would have to cut spending by 9 percent across the board.
However, the analysis found that if the proposed cuts proceed as Republicans hope, then it risks a 30% cut to everything else.
“The likely impact would be a cut of at least 30 percent to all areas outside defense, the Veterans Affairs Department, and Homeland Security, with severe impacts on programs including cancer research at the National Institutes of Health, Meals on Wheels for seniors, preschool and childcare for thousands of children, as well as on veterans` programs outside the Department of Veterans Affairs,” the memo said.
The memo lists all the ways a 30% cut would affect these big issues: including, but not limited to, slashing funding for nearly 26 million students in schools that teach low-income students and 7.5 million students with disabilities.
“House Republicans can do this math as well as anyone,” Young wrote. “They are absolutely aware of these very calculations.”
Young’s memo was released hours before President Biden was scheduled to host Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., at the White House for talks about raising the debt ceiling.
McCarthy suggested he and Biden should be meeting one-on-one, as he knows negotiations aren’t in a good place.
“I don’t think we’re in a good place. I know we’re not. This ignoring the problem, thinking it’s going to go away. He could bumble his way just into a default like he did on the on the border,” McCarthy said.
So far, Biden confirmed there’s been “no progress” on debt ceiling negotiations.
The Treasury Department has signaled the U.S. risks defaulting if the debt ceiling is not raised by June 1, giving the White House and lawmakers a reduced time frame to find a solution.
The Hill and Allison Harris contributed to this report.