Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra will be tasked with defending President Joe Biden's 2024 budget request on Capitol Hill over the next two weeks.
On Wednesday, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, D-Ore., confirmed that Becerra would begin testimony with congressional lawmakers next week. And then on March 29, the HHS secretary will meet with the Republican-controlled House Energy and Commerce Committee.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Biden's 2024 budget proposal — nearly $7 trillion in federal spending — includes $885 billion for defense and roughly $809 billion for nondefense and veterans' health programs.
The overall budget, which includes nondiscretionary entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, would cost $6.9 trillion — representing "an increase over the roughly $6.4 trillion the administration expects the federal government to spend in 2023," the Journal reports.
During a recent speech in Las Vegas, Biden said the upcoming budget would benefit seniors and bring down the country's deficit, which currently stands at roughly $31.6 trillion.
One budget request would raise a Medicare tax on people earning more than $400,000, and another would cap insulin costs at $35 for everyone with private insurance, according to The Hill.
The insulin request expands former President Donald Trump's plan for insulin. According to CMS.gov, under the Trump administration, participating enhanced Part D prescription drug plans provided "Medicare beneficiaries access to a broad set of insulins at a maximum $35 copay for a month's supply."
Last week, Rep. Claudia Tenney, R-N.Y., warned Newsmax viewers that Biden's tax plan for the next 10 years could potentially run up America's spiraling debt to $80 trillion.
Tenney also wants China to retire its portion of America's debt.
Becerra's Capitol Hill appearance will mark the first time he's participated in sworn testimony with the House Republicans in charge.
In a joint statement, Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., and health subcommittee Chair Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., offered a preview of the Becerra discussion.
Biden's "budget request doubles down on massive inflationary spending, would crush medical innovation for new cures, attacks states' rights to manage their Medicaid needs, forces taxpayers to fund abortion, and fails to restore trust in our public health agencies," the GOP lawmakers said.
"Secretary Becerra owes it to the American people to explain why the Biden administration is placing these priorities over lowering health care costs, combating the fentanyl crisis, and protecting the dignity of all human life."
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