Joe Biden heading to Philadelphia to unveil budget proposal

President Joe Biden is coming to Philadelphia on Thursday to unveil his latest budget proposal and plans to protect Medicare, according to the White House.

He’ll visit a union hall where workers are benefiting from his economic plans, the White House said late Sunday, and plans to deliver a speech that outlines his proposals “to invest in America, continue to lower costs for families, protect and strengthen Social Security and Medicare, reduce the deficit, and more.”

The budget proposal would cut the federal deficit by more than $2 trillion over 10 years and extend the life of Medicare, the health plan for Americans age 65 and over, by at least two decades, without cutting benefits, the White House told The Inquirer, though it did not provide details of how Biden would accomplish that difficult combination.

The budget, however, is unlikely to be enacted as Biden proposes, given Republican control of the U.S. House. Such plans typically serve as an outline of a president’s priorities, and a political marker to contrast with his rivals.

Biden will roll out his vision ahead of what’s expected to be a reelection announcement in the coming month, and as he has tried to contrast himself with some Republicans’ calls to scale back Social Security and Medicare. That topic was a main feature of his recent State of the Union speech, and is already a key piece of Democratic messaging ahead of the 2024 election.

In coming to Philadelphia, Biden will return to a city he has visited often as president, in a state that’s vital to the 2024 election, and where he has deep personal and political ties.