Unlike the $1.5 trillion skinny budget Biden released in early April focused solely on funding for next year covered in 12 annual appropriations bills, the full budget is expected to cover broader spending categories and a longer time frame.
The full budget proposal includes projections for major mandatory spending programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and incorporates policies the president wants to enact.
It typically covers a 10-year window, and often lays out fiscal targets such as balancing the budget or putting it on a sustainable path. That will be a significant challenge following the pandemic, which hit the economy hard and led to a multitrillion-dollar fiscal response, bringing the national debt to more than $28 trillion.
Many White House staffers and reporters were able to shed their masks Thursday after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued new guidance saying vaccinated individuals did not need to wear face coverings, with few exceptions.
The White House informed staff that those who were fully vaccinated meaning they are 14 days clear of their last dose of the vaccine no longer were required to wear masks while on campus. And the White House Correspondents Association (WHCA) informed its members that masks were no longer necessary for reporters working at the complex. Effective immediately, pursuant to the new CDC guidance, mask-wearing requirements are lifted at the White House complex for those who are 14 days after their last required dose of one of the COVID-19 shots, WHCA President Zeke Miller said in an email to members.