See how the president is prioritizing his proposed budget increases at nearly every agency in government.
President Biden on Monday put forward his second budget, including a range of proposals to reshape agency operations in his fiscal 2023 blueprint that would boost discretionary domestic agency funding by 9.5% over current levels.
Nearly every major agency would see a large spending increase, which in most cases the White House accompanied with initiatives to hire more employees. The federal workforce would grow by 3.6%, or 82,000 employees, under the proposal, which would bring the number of civil servants to its highest total since 1969. With those staffing additions, the Biden administration in many cases suggested shaking up how agencies deliver services or what parts of their missions they prioritize.
The Commerce Department would receive the largest funding increase, largely to boost domestic manufacturing and dedicate more resources to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, followed by the Veterans Affairs Department as it aims to improve health care services for its 9 million patients.
The chart below shows the proposed change in budget authority relative to spending Congress approved for fiscal 2021, as the White House used that benchmark due to its preparation of the 2023 document while 2022 funding was still being negotiated in Congress. The omnibus funding package Biden signed into law earlier this month included a nearly 7% increase for non-defense agencies, meaning the actual boosts under Biden’s plan compared to current spending levels are less. While every major agency would receive an increase compared to funding levels under the continuing resolutions in effect until the omnibus was enacted, Biden’s proposal for the departments of Homeland Security and Transportation, for example, would actually mark slight cuts relative to their current funding under the recently passed omnibus.