President Biden’s administration today released its annual budget of more than $1.5 trillion, which includes total funding for health care, education and social services that exceeds the defense budget, in a reversal of former President Trump’s policy.
The fiscal year 2022 budget allocates $769.4 billion in discretionary spending under non-defense programs, exceeding defense funding by $753 billion. The Trump presidency prioritized defense, but defense spending in the Biden administration’s budget is only slightly higher (from the previous year).
The Biden administration has said it must specifically increase spending beyond defense to help the U.S. economy recover from the reversal caused by the epidemic and move toward equity in the years ahead.
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen issued a statement saying, “The president is proposing a budget that will make the situation more equitable.”
The U.S. fiscal year begins in October and runs through September of the following year.
In addition to the Department of Defense, the largest budget allocation is for the Department of Health and Human Services, at $133.7 billion, an increase of more than 23 percent over the previous year’s revision.
The Department of Education budget will increase 40.8 percent from the previous year to $102.8 billion.
Schools at all levels will be allocated $36.5 billion to help disadvantaged students, federal health research programs will receive $6.5 billion, and $10.7 billion will be used to combat the drug epidemic.
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