Joe Biden Sends Empty Budget Signaling on Police Funding

The White House on Monday previewed President Joe Biden’s annual 2023 budget, which includes an empty request for federal spending on police departments.

Biden’s proposal will ask for more than $32 billion in new spending to fight crime, according to reports, in an effort to signal support for the police during an unprecedented period of rising crime.

The budget would double funding for community policing and community violence interventions as well as hire more deputy marshals and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,  Firearms, and Explosives agents, according to reports.

In a statement, Biden said budgets were “statements of values,” as he outlined his desire to spend $5.8 trillion for fiscal year 2023.

The president’s annual budget document is largely meaningless, as Congress relies on continuing resolutions and stop-gap funding for most of its spending plans. He and his staff have not outlined a separate funding bill for police to push forward for passage in Congress.

Biden’s message will likely disappoint Democrats such as Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, Ilhan Omar of Minnesota, Cori Bush of Missouri, Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts, and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who continue to call for federal and local governments to defund the police.

The president famously complained to black activists after the 2020 election that Republicans used calls to defund the police to “beat the living hell out of us across the country.”

But during the election, Biden himself said, “Yes, absolutely,” when asked in an interview if he supported redirecting police funding to other community service programs.

The president reversed any sympathy for the idea, however, arguing during his State of the Union speech in March that it was time to further fund the police.

“We should all agree the answer is not to defund the police. It’s to fund the police,” he said. “Fund them. Fund them. Fund them with resources and training. Resources and training they need to protect their community.”