Biden to unveil 2022 spending request Friday

The Biden administration is set to unveil its proposed top-line spending numbers for the 2022 government budget on Friday, after a brief delay.

The discretionary proposal, which is expected to be short on details, will include proposed spending figures for defense as well as non-defense funding.

Budget watchers expect the defense figures to stay relatively stable, while the other spending covers every other government agency, ranging from Agriculture to Housing and Urban Development to Education to the State Department.

The proposal, which in recent years has amounted to approximately $1.4 trillion, will allow Congress to kick off of its annual appropriations process.

President Biden’s proposal is likely to face challenges in the Senate, where 60 votes are needed to advance the 12 annual spending bills that keep the government running.

Republicans, who objected to the size of both the already-passed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief plan and Biden’s proposed $2.3 trillion infrastructure plan, may take issue with further proposed increases in non-defense spending, as well as anything short of an increase to defense.

The GOP has already hit Biden for the belated rollout of the spending proposal, noting that its release has been later than that of any incoming administration in recent history.

Typically, the White House releases a “skinny” budget, or budget blueprint, early on to set the tone for its proposals and kick off the process, followed by a more fully fleshed out proposal.

But the Office of Management and Budget, which had originally signaled that the numbers would be released in late March, has indicated that Friday’s proposal will fall short of even the “skinny” budget definition, limited to overall spending levels.