Senators on Biden's budget plan

(9 Mar 2023)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Washington - 4 January 2022
1. Exteriors of the United States Capitol
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Washington – 9 March 2023
2. Reporter asking question, UPSOUND (English): "Senator, is the president’s budget dead on arrival?"
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Josh Hawley, (R) Missouri:
“Yeah, of course. Yeah, a 100%, absolutely.”
++WHITE FLASH++
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Dick Durbin, (D) Illinois:
“The president had the wisdom and courage, the political courage, to put his budget on the table. Now it’s Speaker McCarthy’s turn. After all of these promises and threats, about what it’s going to do to our economy and to our deficit situation, put your budget on the table. What is it you want to do? Let’s see it.”
++WHITE FLASH++
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. John Neely Kennedy, (R) Louisiana:
“The president shouldn’t take it personally. Most presidential budgets are DOA (dead on arrival) in the Senate, we like to do our own work. I think the president’s budget, any president’s budget in modern times, has become more of a messaging bill than anything else. And I think the president’s message for his budget is to his base, and that is that he’s saying to his base, ‘Look, you know what I believe in. I believe in bigger government, higher taxes, more spending, more regulation, more debt.’”
++WHITE FLASH++
 6. SOUNDBITE (English) Sen. Richard Blumenthal, (D) Connecticut:
“The president’s budget provides a really important and positive blueprint for what we can do, especially in a wartime situation in Ukraine, when resources are absolutely necessary for our protecting national security. We need to invest in national defense. We need to cut the deficit, as he is doing, and the debt, and make sure that we fulfill all of our obligations to invest in our industrial base.”
++EDIT ENDS ON A SOUNDBITE++

STORYLINE:
Democratic and Republican Senators on Capitol Hill reacted Thursday to President Joe Biden’s 10 year budget plan proposal, which largely revolves around the idea of taxing the wealthy to help fund programs for the middle class, older adults and families.
 
When Sen. Josh Hawley, R-MO, was asked if President Biden's budget plan was dead on arrival he said, "Yeah. Of course. Yeah. A hundred percent. Absolutely.”

Echoing Hawley's statement, Sen. John Neely Kennedy, R-LA, said the president shouldn't take it personally that his budget is dead on arrival.

"I think the president’s budget, any president’s budget in modern times, has become more of a messaging bill than anything else. And I think the president’s message for his budget is to his base. And that is that he’s saying to his base, ‘Look you know what I believe in. I believe in bigger government, higher taxes, more spending, more regulation, more debt," Kennedy said.

But Democrats appear to be rallying support behind the president's plan.

Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-CT, said Biden's budget plan was a “positive blueprint” for what can be done during a wartime situation.
 
 “The president’s budget provides a really important and positive blueprint for what we can do, especially in a wartime situation in Ukraine, when resources are absolutely necessary for our protecting national security. We need to invest in national defense. We need to cut the deficit, as he is doing, and the debt, and make sure that we fulfill all of our obligations to invest in our industrial base,” Blumenthal said.

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Josh Hawley starring in "The Running Man."