Lee: Biden Budget Would Make Inflation Worse

WASHINGTON—Today, Ranking Member Mike Lee (R-UT) sent a letter to the Senate Committee on the Budget providing the Joint Economic Committee's economic evaluation of President Biden's Budget for FY2023. 

In the letter, Lee expresses Committee Republicans' concern that the Budget overstates growth, understates inflation, and obscures President Biden's central economic policies by placing big-ticket items like Build Back Better in a nondescript "deficit neutral reserve fund" with no price tag. The JEC estimates that, if approved, the Biden Budget could increase inflation by 0.3% in 2023.

Lee writes, "Before the pandemic, the American economy was meeting the 1946 Employment Act's central goals of maintaining Americans' purchasing power, supporting maximum employment, and ensuring robust economic growth. These goals were supported by pro-growth policies that kept taxes low and removed burdensome regulations. 

"A Budget that outlines ways to reduce federal outlays, cut regulations, keep taxes low, and remove disincentives to work would go a long way towards returning our economy to one of low inflation, full employment, and sustainable long-term growth.

"Unfortunately, the Budget fails to meet these objectives."

 Read the letter here.

The Joint Economic Committee is Congress's bicameral economic research center and home of the Social Capital Project, led by Ranking Member Mike Lee.