Fox Business White House correspondent Edward Lawrence pressed White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre about the administration’s victory lap over the $1.7 trillion drop in the deficit.
President Joe Biden has repeatedly touted the deficit drop, despite economic experts attributing 80% of the decrease to the expiration of COVID stimulus spending. The remaining 20% is due to a stronger than expected economy and a higher influx of tax revenue due to the inflation.
“The president said that he has cut the deficit over the past two years,” Lawrence said at Thursday’s press briefing. “Isn’t that misleading for Americans because it was the COVID spending that ended that really brought that money down as well as the president signing an increase in ongoing federal spending and now the CBO [Congressional Budget Office] says the federal deficit this year is $1.4 trillion and averaging $2 trillion until 2033.”
“The president has long made reducing the deficit and being fiscally responsible as a priority. He did that as president, he believed that as vice president and something he believed as a senator,” Jean-Pierre said. “I think, look no further than his speech yesterday, look no further [than] his State of the Union when he said he’s going to continue to cut the deficit by $2 trillion in the upcoming fiscal year 2024 budget. And that’s something you’re all going to see on March 9 when he puts forth his budget and this is something he is completely committed to.”
The press secretary then pivoted to congressional Republicans, whom she claimed “want to increase the deficit by $3 trillion” by repealing the Inflation Reduction Act and reinstating tax cuts implemented during former President Donald Trump’s administration. (RELATED: Jean-Pierre Repeats False Claim That Biden Policies Lowered Deficit)
Lawrence asked whether Biden’s upcoming budget plan includes spending cuts to help mitigate government spending.
“I’m not gonna get ahead of the president, I’m just telling you what he laid out to all of you yesterday. $2 trillion, he’s gonna lower the deficit and that shows fiscal responsibility and that is something that the president has talked about as president, as vice president, as senator and he’s shown it. He has the receipts,” she said.
Despite the deficit drop, it did not decrease as much as expected considering the Biden administration’s passage of spending legislations and executive actions. The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB) estimated that the Biden administration’s policies would add $4.8 trillion to deficits between 2021 and 2031.
This estimate came after the CBO projected the deficit would be $2.3 trillion in 2021. The office increased its estimate due to the passage of the American Rescue Plan in 2021, according to Check Your Fact.