President Biden Releases $6 Trillion Budget Request as Infrastructure Negotiations Continue

President Joe Biden released on May 28 his budget request for fiscal year 2022 (FY22). The $6 trillion budget proposes $9 billion in additional funding for HUD, a 15% increase over FY21. The funds would provide substantial federal investment in affordable homes and increase the availability of housing assistance to families with the greatest need. For details, see NLIHC’s full analysis and updated budget chart.

With the release of the president’s full budget request, Congress will now begin drafting spending bills. House appropriations subcommittees are expected to begin the process of voting on FY22 spending bills on June 24, with full committee votes between June 29 and July 16. Votes in the Senate are expected to begin the following month, with the goal of passing all 12 spending bills through the House and Senate before October 1, the beginning of the new fiscal year.

The release of the budget request also gives Democrats on the budget committee the opportunity to begin writing instructions for a potential reconciliation package that requires only 50 votes in the Senate to enact the “American Jobs Plan,” the president’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure proposal that contains $318 billion for affordable housing.

The White House maintains that it would like to reach a bipartisan compromise on infrastructure spending before turning to reconciliation. Senate Republicans sent on May 27 a $928 billion counter-offer to the president, a significant increase from their previous offer of $568 billion (see Memo, 4/26). The proposal, however, contained no funding for affordable housing and would recapture unspent funds from the “American Rescue Plan Act” to pay for investments, which the White House has said is a non-starter. While President Biden is expected to meet again next week with Senate Republicans, he has said that time to reach a bipartisan deal is running out.