On Monday, President Joe Biden announced the 2023 budget proposal, totaling $5.8 trillion, with a focus on increased military spending and a new tax on billionaires.
Amid the ongoing Russian invasion of Ukraine, Biden plans to invest more into the national security, in addition to supporting Ukraine financially.
"I'm calling for one of the largest investments in our national security in history, with the funds needed to ensure that our military remains the best-prepared, best-trained, best-equipped military in the world," Biden said in a statement. "In addition, I'm calling for continued investment to forcefully respond to Putin’s aggression against Ukraine with US support for Ukraine's economic, humanitarian, and security needs."
Biden plans to increase national security spending by 4%, or $31 billion, to a total of $813.3 billion, according to The New York Times.
$6.9 billion would go towards the European Deterrence Initiative, NATO, and countering Russian aggression, according to CBS News. $2 billion is proposed for a missile defense interceptor, and nearly $5 billion for a space-based missile warning system, according to The New York Times.
Biden's budget proposal also aims to reduce the federal deficit by more than $1.3 trillion over the next decade.
"Here's what this all adds up to - historic deficit reduction and historic investment in our security at home and abroad by modernizing our capabilities in both areas," Biden said Monday, per NBC News.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed some criticism of the budget proposal, saying it "falls woefully short on defense spending."
Some of the budget proposal would also be directed towards improving the police system and fighting gun crime.
"At the same time, my budget will make investments in securing our nation and building a better America," Biden said in the statement. "We will secure our communities by putting more police on the street to engage in accountable community policing, hiring the agents needed to help fight gun crime, and investing in crime prevention and community violence intervention."
$30 billion would go towards supporting law enforcement, crime prevention and community policing. Biden added that police need improved training to better help protect their communities.
"I've said it before — the answer is not to defund our police departments," Biden said, per CBS News. "It's to fund our police, and give them all the tools they need — training and foundation and partners and protectors that our communities need."
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