Biden mocks Republicans in latest row over major spending cuts to Veterans

President Joe Biden might not be as savvy a social media operator as his predecessors but he hit the mark on May 2nd when he hammered the Republican's new debt bill cuts.

Biden wasn’t just mocking any cuts, though. He went after a major funding reduction to the Department of Veterans Affairs that would see the agency lose 22% of its budget. 

The President is likely calling out the cut in order to bring attention to the larger issues of the GOP’s debt bill, which is seeking big cuts in exchange for raising the debt ceiling. 

“I hear House Republicans out on TV saying they would never vote to cut veterans’ benefits,” Biden tweeted in a remark clearly aimed at embarrassing Republicans. 

“In case there’s any confusion, I made a little chart that could help them out,” the President added, complete with a comically well-organized flow chart for the GOP. 

Photo by Twitter @POTUS

Biden’s remarks were just one salvo in a battle that has been brewing since House Republicans released the details of their The Limit, Save, Grow Act to the public. 

According to the New York Post, the bill aims to reduce non-discretionary defense spending to 2022 levels and limit growth to just 1% a year over the next 10 years. 

No specific agency was slated for cuts but any reduction of the size proposed by the GOP would almost certainly include major cuts to the Department of Veterans Affairs. 

On April 21st, the government department said as much in a press release that stated the House Republicans proposed budget limitations would result in a 22% funding cut. 

Such a drastic cut, the press release argued, would threaten medical care for veterans as well as worsen benefits and eliminate essential housing and training programs.

The response from conservative lawmakers was immediate and it seemed they didn’t take too kindly to Veterans Affairs publicly pointing out the hypocrisy of their political positions.

Republicans are saying that their bill isn’t calling for any specific cuts according to The Daily Beast’s David Moye, and some GOP representatives have accused Biden and his administration of lying and politicizing Veterans Affairs for their own political gain. 

“They’re shamelessly lying about veterans benefits and politicizing the VA to do so,” House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik said on April 30th according to The Hill. 

Representative Andrew Clyde took a different approach than his colleague and stated that House Republicans should investigate Veteran Affairs according to The Hill for making claims that violated the country’s federal false statements statutes.

“Obviously they have too much money in the communications department if they’re spending it on political purposes,” said Maryland Representative Andy Harris. 

Biden’s latest provocation may seem like a bit of political pandering but it did its job and brought attention to an extremely important political issue that the voting public should understand as the country gears up for the next big presidential election in 2024.