Biden budget seeks more for schools, health care and housing

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden released his wish list for the federal budget on Friday, asking for an 8.4% increase in discretionary spending with substantial gains for education, health care, housing and environmental protection.

The request issued by the White House Office of Management and Budget spells out Biden’s top priorities as Congress weighs its spending plans for next year. It’s the first financial outline of Democrats’ broader ambitions since the expiration of a 2011 law that capped discretionary spending.

Roughly a third of the huge federal budget consists of discretionary spending, which is funding for the military, foreign policy and domestic programs set by Congress. The rest of the budget involves mandatory spending that is locked-in each year, such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

Biden, as vice president, helped strike the 2011 agreement with Kentucky Sen. Mitch McConnell, who will be on the other side of budget talks again as the chamber's minority leader. The compromise was meant to reduce partisan gridlock over an increase to the government’s borrowing authority in return for deficit savings.

The Biden administration believes the caps caused a decade of severe underinvestment in public services that the president is now trying to turn around with large increases that would mostly bypass national security programs.

An administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations, said the request would bring spending in line with historic averages. It seeks $769 billion in non-defense discretionary funding, a sum the official said is equal to the 30-year average of spending relative to the overall U.S. economy.

Biden wants to increase the Education Department’s budget 40.8% to $102.8 billion, which includes an additional $20 billion in...