US President Joe Biden has announced plans to reduce the budget deficit and even pay down a portion of the country's exorbitant national debt, touting the future achievements of his administration compared to the period of his predecessor, Donald Trump.
"The bottom line is that the deficit went up every year under my predecessor before the pandemic and during the pandemic. And it's gone down both years since I've been here. Period", Biden said.
POTUS further defended the approach taken by his administration to boost pandemic benefits for US citizens, noting that the reduction of unemployment and creation of new jobs boosted tax revenues and hence helped reduce the budget deficit.
According to the estimates of the Treasury Department, the US deficit might drop by around $1.5 trillion, which would mean the deficit for the American budget might reach only $1.3 trillion this year. In addition, the Treasury said that some $26 billion will be spent on reducing the government's debt, which stands at slightly above $30 trillion.
The announcement comes half a year ahead of the midterm election, which so far is expected to result in a "shellacking" – a significant defeat for Democrats with subsequent loss of control over either the House or the Senate, or both. Polls suggest that Biden's approval rating remains low and weighs heavily on the potential performance of his party in the election.
Historically, promises to reduce national debt and deficit have brought very limited support to politicians in the US. Apart from that, the polling shows that Americans are currently more preoccupied with rampant inflation, which Republicans blame on their opponents' uncontrolled spending in 2021.
At the same time, concerns about budget deficits and national debt have been among the reasons why the Democrats have sometimes failed to rally their forces in an evenly divided Senate. Senator Joe Manchin refused to back some of the party's bills, including Biden's key green energy policy, over concerns regarding the growing deficit. Thus, reducing it might help the Democrats gain his support on crucial projects.