Biden imminent budget • TikTok’s House peril • SOTU odds and ends
Plus: The president will head to New Hampshire later while Vice President Harris is on the campaign trail out west.
Biden sends FY25 budget to Congress
President Joe Biden will release his budget for fiscal year 2025 this afternoon. The proposal comes as Congress has yet to fully fund the government for the current fiscal year and relied on four short-term extensions to approve six of the 12 appropriations bills due five months ago. (The deadline for the other six FY24 funding bills is March 22.)
A White House official said the president’s budget aims to protect and build on the progress his agenda has made in the past three years, with a focus on the middle class. The official added that the budget will reduce the national deficit by around $3 trillion by raising taxes on big corporations and wealthy earners. I’ll have
The view from the GOP: The House Budget Committee passed a budget resolution along party lines last week, with all 19 Republican members voting in favor and each of the 15 committee Democrats voting against.
“Republicans on the Budget Committee are taking action to pass a budget blueprint that will restore fiscal responsibility by reining in spending, reigniting economic growth and putting our nation on a path to balance,” Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said in a statement ahead of the vote.
Committee Democrats blasted the proposal for its significant cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, infrastructure investments and funding for higher education. They say it disproportionately benefits the ultra-wealthy at the expense of seniors, students and working-class families.
During the proposal's markup last week, Republicans rejected 11 Democratic amendments, including measures to provide $60.6 billion in aid to Ukraine, strike Medicaid work requirements, and strengthen the Medicare price negotiation provision passed by Democrats in the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.
Rep. Brendan Boyle (Penn.), the top House Budget Democrat, called the Republican proposal a backward and extreme vision for the future.
“We saw just how willing Republicans are to sell out American families in order to continue giving trillions in tax cuts to price-gouging corporations and the ultra-rich,” Boyle said in a statement. “And we saw just how hell-bent they are on gutting critical programs—raising the cost of living and pushing the middle class out of reach for hard-working Americans.”
What’s next: Once Congress completes the appropriations process for FY24, the House and Senate will hold hearings to hear testimony from administration officials on the president’s specific proposals. The 12 House and Senate appropriations subcommittees will prepare funding bills based on the discretionary limits agreed to by both parties. The fact that House conservatives are fuming at the lack of policy wins in the current funding bills and electoral politics is sure to impact the process—it remains to be seen to what extent.
By the numbers: 35. That’s how many days late the president’s budget is. It’s due the first Monday in February, but there’s no penalty for missing the deadline this year, which was the 5th. President Biden sent his budget to Congress on March 9 last year, 31 days late.
Another thing: The Senate passed the package of six FY24 funding bills due at midnight this past Saturday on Friday evening, but the president didn’t sign it into law until after the deadline. So why was there no shutdown? A White House official said it was because obligations of federal funds are incurred and tracked daily, agencies wouldn’t have to shut down. They could continue their normal operations since Biden signed the legislation before the process began on Saturday.
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House to take up controversial TikTok bill
The House is set to vote on a bill that would remove TikTok from US app stores if its owner, ByteDance, a Chinese internet technology company based in Beijing, refuses to divest fully of the app within 180 days.
The bill, which was introduced by Reps. Mike Gallagher (R-Wis.) and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.), the chair and ranking member of the House Select Committee on China, will be considered under suspension of the rules—a mechanism that limits debate and prohibits amendments on a measure and requires a two-thirds majority vote for passage, an indication that House Republican leadership believes the bill has broad bipartisan support. It unanimously passed out of the House Energy & Commerce Committee by a 50-0 vote last week, a demonstration of bipartisanship rarely seen in Congress these days.
President Biden told reporters on Friday he would sign the bill if Congress passes it.
View from the supporters: Proponents of the bill argue apps that foreign adversaries control, like TikTok, pose an unacceptable risk to US national security because they enable American adversaries to surveil and influence the American public through the data Americans produce and the information they share and consume.
They add that the bill doesn’t punish individual social media users or censor speech because it is focused entirely on foreign adversary control—not the content of shared speech.
View from the critics: Opponents of the bill say it unfairly targets TikTok. A House Democrat, who was granted anonymity to discuss the matter openly, told me members of Congress received a classified briefing that revealed Facebook collects more data on Americans than other social apps.
“We need comprehensive social media guardrails—policy, safety provisions, bans on selling user data, all of that stuff,” the member told me. “We’re not doing any of that.”
TikTok released a pop-up call-to-action last week urging users to call House E&C members and encourage them to vote against the bill.
“We are seeing why the Chinese Communist Party is so desperate to hang onto TikTok, because of its ability to target Americans and promote CCP propaganda,” Gallagher and Krishnamoorthi said in a statement. “Now, our fears are coming to fruition. Many users of TikTok today are reporting that they are being required to call their Members of Congress before accessing the app. TikTok is falsely labeling our bipartisan legislation as a ‘total ban’ of TikTok, thinking they can trick their users into unwittingly assisting their propaganda campaign.”
The two leaders characterized it as an example of why they introduced the bill: “TikTok users are being targeted based on their location—highlighting the exact data privacy concerns that our bill seeks to address.”
Eyes on House Dem leadership: While House Republican leadership supports the legislation, it’s unclear where House Democratic leadership stands.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) told me last December that he believed social media is often manipulated by foreign actors connected to adversaries like Russia, Iran, North Korea, and China.
“In many ways over the last several years, social media has been a toxic force in terms of conveying misinformation and deepening divisions amongst the American people,” he said. “TikTok and its corporate structure is connected to the Chinese Communist Party, as I understand it, and I think it’s a legitimate inquiry to see if there's being intentional manipulation within TikTok contributing to a rise in antisemitism, hatred, or divisions amongst the American people don't benefit the United States of America, but would benefit our foreign adversaries.”
It’s also unclear if the Senate will consider the bill if the House passes it this week.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-Conn.) told me that the war in Gaza shifted his position on TikTok around the same time.
I know the bans come in different forms,” he said then. “I'm much more open to that than I was just a couple of weeks ago.”
Murphy pointed to claims that TikTok was promoting hate speech and misinformation on the right and left to the detriment of young people.
“I see what Tiktok is driving to teenagers today because I have one and a half of them—a teenager and a preteen. And the way that Tiktok is talking about Gaza is designed to divide Americans from each other. They are not giving a fair picture. They are ultimately pushing Americans against each other,” Murphy told reporters. “I had not been somewhat up until now, that was, you know, as interested in TikTok-focused social media policy. I thought it's a policy for all the social media companies. It’s just probably time to say we shouldn't have a Chinese-owned social media company force-feeding divisive information to our kids.”
TikTok has been banned on federal devices since late 2022.
SOTU odds and ends
I am sharing two personal notes I left from my State of the Union preview and recap columns last week.
First, I met Annette Watts, whose 34-year-old daughter Brittany was arrested and charged with a felony following a miscarriage at her home in Ohio.
I’ve covered Brittany’s story in several recent newsletters. After a few special moments with her mom on the sidelines of a pre-SOTU press conference, where Brittany shared her story, it was clear where Brittany inherited her strength and courage.
Annette was the guest of Rep. Shontel Brown (D-Ohio) and Brittany attended the State of the Union at the invitation of Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio).
I also met Darryl George, a Black student at a southeast Texas high school who has for months faced disciplinary actions by the school district for refusing to cut his locks, which the school says violates its policy.
Darryl is an impressive young man who, in between snapping pictures of the epic chandelier in Statuary Hall, told me the source of his determination to stand up for his right to self-expression was his mom, Dareesha, who joined him at the SOTU as guests of the Congressional Black Caucus.
Shoutout to Black moms, especially mine.
In other news, the Biden campaign released its first post-SOTU ad on Friday, a 60-second spot in which he discusses how his wisdom, experience, and age have enabled him to pass a historic legislative agenda.
Watch it below:
The ad is part of a $30-million six-week ad campaign targeting voters in battleground states, including Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, Nevada and North Carolina.
The Biden campaign said the ad will air on popular entertainment and sports programming during high-viewership moments like the NCAA March Madness Tournament. It will also run digitally across platforms—mostly on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.
“Joe Biden is 81 and he’s going to beat Donald Trump again because he wakes up every single day fighting for the American people while Trump wages a campaign of revenge and retribution focused on himself,” Biden campaign Communications Director Michael Tyler said in a statement. “Trump may be four years younger than Joe Biden, but his ideas are old as hell and they've already been rejected by the American people. Joe Biden is running to make sure we reject them for good.”
And finally, Team Biden announced on Sunday it raised $10 million in the 24 hours following the State of the Union, its largest 24-hour haul of the campaign.
The announcement comes after a week of historic milestones, including $1.5 million in contributions the day after Super Tuesday and three straight hours of new one-hour online fundraising records during the State of the Union.
“We send our condolences to the other guy and his flailing, poor campaign,” Biden Campaign Manager Julie Chavez Rodriguez said. “Turns out attacking women’s rights, cutting taxes for the rich, and attacking American democracy isn’t exactly a winning message.”
LAST BUT NOT LEAST
Biden’s Ramadan message: The month of fasting, prayer and reflection for the Muslim community began on Sunday evening. The president acknowledged in a statement that this year’s sacred season comes at a moment of immense pain due to the terrible suffering the war on Gaza has inflicted on the Palestinian people.
Biden reaffirmed America’s commitment to lead international efforts to surge additional humanitarian aid into Gaza and doubled down on his commitment to establish a six-week ceasefire, which he said is a key step toward building a two-state solution and lasting peace. Hamas has rejected the current deal for a ceasefire.
The president also called out the resurgence of hate and violence toward Muslim Americans and said his administration is developing the first-ever national strategy to take on hate against Muslim, Sikh, South Asian, and Arab American communities.
“To Muslims across our country, please know that you are deeply valued members of our American family,” Biden said. “To those who are grieving during this time of war, I hear you, I see you, and I pray you find solace in your faith, family, and community. And to all who are marking the beginning of Ramadan tonight, I wish you a safe, healthy, and blessed month. Ramadan Kareem.”
ARP turns 3: Today is the third anniversary of the American Rescue Plan, the first big bill President Biden signed into law, which led to the strongest recovery on record for US jobs and the strongest recovery in the world following the COVID-19 pandemic. The White House is marking the occasion with new documents on the economic challenges the US faced before the ARP and where the country is now. The administration also has a breakdown of the key American Rescue Plan impacts over the past three years.
The $1.9 trillion bill expanded unemployment benefits and increased food stamp benefits; it expanded the Child Tax Credit, made it fully refundable and allowed families to receive half of the benefit up front in monthly payments. It sent over $160 billion to K-12 schools to safely open within 100 days and support community colleges, HBCUs and other minority-serving institutions. The bill also provided states, cities and tribal governments with funds to offset funding shortfalls. The legislation expanded Obamacare subsidies, bolstered rental assistance programs, provided funding for COVID-19 vaccines and testing and kept airlines and public transit systems afloat.
One of the most popular provisions: $1,400 direct payments to individuals, also known as “stimulus checks.”
The package was built upon many provisions in the CARES Act of 2020 and the 2021 omnibus, signed into law by then-President Trump. It received near unanimous support from congressional support and unanimous opposition from Republicans, passing on a party-line vote. (House progressives expressed disappointment that critical provisions, including a $15 federal minimum wage, were stripped from the final package to secure Senate support but voted in favor anyway.)
Republicans defended their opposition by arguing the bill was too expensive and only benefited blue states with more than three out of every five dollars going to states that voted for Biden in 2020. (The president countered this argument by calling out Republicans for supporting the 2017 Trump tax cuts, which mostly benefited the wealthy.)
HAPPENINGS
The House is in and will take up several bills this evening under suspension of the rules.
The Senate is in and will vote to advance Jasmine Yoon's nomination as US District Judge for the Western District of Virginia.
President Biden will receive his daily intelligence briefing before returning to Washington to speak at the League of Cities. The president will then travel to New Hampshire to discuss lowering family costs. He’ll return to the White House after speaking at a campaign event.
Biden’s week ahead:
Tuesday: The president will hold a campaign meeting with Teamsters members before hosting President Andrzej Duda and Prime Minister Donald Tuck of Poland for a bilateral meeting.
Wednesday: Biden will travel to Milwaukee to discuss his economic agenda and attend a campaign event.
Thursday: The president will travel from Milwaukee to Saginaw, Michigan, to participate in a campaign event before returning to the White House.
Friday: Biden will host Taoiseach Leo Varadkar of Ireland for a bilateral meeting and attend the Friends of Ireland Speaker Luncheon at the US Capitol.
Saturday: The president will speak at the Gridiron Dinner. Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff will attend.
Sunday: Biden will speak at the White House during a St. Patrick’s Day celebration.
Vice President Harris and Second Gentleman Emhoff will travel from Los Angeles to San Francisco to speak at two campaign fundraisers.
Harris’s week ahead:
Tuesday: The vice president will travel from San Francisco to Denver to continue her post-State of the Union swing and speak at a campaign event before returning to Washington.
Thursday: Harris will travel to the Twin Cities in Minnesota for the sixth stop on her nationwide reproductive freedom tour.
Friday: The vice president will host Taoiseach Varadkar for breakfast at her residence before convening a roundtable on marijuana reform.