President Barack Obama presents his 2016 budget at the Department of Homeland Security. Paige Leskin/MNS
WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama advocated Monday for his proposed $4 trillion federal budget for 2016, urging Congress to put “politics aside” as he detailed his plans for increased defense spending and affordable programs benefitting the middle class.
The budget proposal, delivered to Capitol Hill on Monday, outlined the president’s ideas and vision for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1. Obama spoke at the Department of Homeland Security, assuring officials there that they would have the necessary funding this year to do their jobs. Money for the agency is currently only guaranteed through the end of this month.
Following Obama’s remarks, Secretary of Homeland Security Jeh Johnson said the $41.2 billion in discretionary funding included in the 2016 budget would go toward the agency’s efforts to fight terrorism, secure borders and improve cybersecurity.
The president asked Congress to avoid making the Homeland Security budget a partisan issue that would leave the agency short of money this year. The House Republican majority last year decided to separate DHS funding from the overall 2015 budget and grant the agency funding only through the end of this month.
A bill to secure more money for Homeland Security this year passed the House and should soon go before the Senate. Senate Democrats are expected to stall the bill because of GOP amendments that would reverse Obama’s executive actions on immigration.
Top Democrats, as well as former DHS secretaries, have urged Republicans to pass a “clean” funding bill that would allow the agency to perform its necessary functions.
Obama’s 2016 budget includes funding for both foreign and domestic spending. At the Homeland Security agency, the president highlighted border control, cybersecurity and protection of U.S. troops.
“It’s a budget that recognizes that our economy flourishes when America is safe and secure,” he said. “It reflects our values, making sure that we’re making investments we need to keep America safe, to keep America growing, to make sure that everybody is participating … no matter how they started in life.”
Obama, reiterating words from the State of the Union message, said his spending plan would prioritize “middle-class economics” — including middle class tax cuts, increased minimum wage and paid family leave. His budget asks for resources to provide for two free years of community college, and also seeks investments in early and high school education.
The addition of these policies will not increase the federal deficit — the difference between spending and revenues — Obama said. However, a new Congressional Budget Office report projects that the budget deficit will rise again in 2018.
But Obama said Monday that deficits can be held in check through tax reforms and trimming inefficient spending.
Obama also emphasized Monday that he would not accept a budget that included “sequestration,” automatically capping the amount of spending for certain domestic and foreign defense priorities. The country cannot afford to be “shortsighted” when it comes to defense spending, he said.
“We’ve got to put our politics aside, pass a budget,” Obama said. “This is one of our most basic and most important responsibilities as a government. I am calling on Congress to get this done.”
While the GOP will not approve the president’s budget in full, the Senate and House Budget Committees may use certain ideas in developing their own plans, including elimination of the sequester, said Tom Hungerford, director of tax and budget policy at the Economic Policy Institute, a think tank. Republicans may also be on board to support improving the nation’s infrastructure — roads, bridges and the like — which Obama has proposed to modernize and expand as a way of creating jobs and helping businesses.
