US president Joe Biden on Thursday will warn that federal budget cuts and a looming government shutdown will take a toll on America's economy and voters, as the clock ticks ahead of a possible government shutdown.
The Republican-controlled House and the Democratic-controlled Senate are due to be in session for about 12 days before funding for the US government expires on September 30th.
House Republicans are demanding to cut spending for fiscal 2024 to $1.47 trillion, about $120 billion less than Mr Biden and Republican House speaker Kevin McCarthy agreed in May in a deal on the debt ceiling. The White House and Senate leaders - including top Republican Mitch McConnell - have rejected that House Republican demand.
"Today, the President will explain how these harmful cuts fit into the larger Republican budget plan...and what that plan would mean for the American people," the White House said in a statement.
The White House will spend "much of this fall" criticising what is known of the Republican budget plan, which it is referring to as "MAGAnomics." The term was originally popularised by former president Donald Trump's budget director Mick Mulvaney to describe Mr Trump's Make America Great Again strategy of corporate tax cuts, welfare cuts and slashing regulations.
Mr Biden will argue in a speech on Thursday that Republicans plan to lower taxes for the rich and make cuts to programs such as Social Security and Medicare. Republicans in Congress are pushing to make Mr Trump's tax cuts permanent, and some Republican candidates running in the 2024 election have proposed changes to the popular Social Security plan.
Mr Biden and Democrats have introduced "Bidenomics," a plan to restructure the US economy by investing in infrastructure, green energy and local manufacturing, while pushing companies to share more profits with workers. They have pushed more than $1.4 trillion in federal funds through Congress.
However, it is not resonating with the American people. Democratic economists, pollsters and officials have said Mr Biden is struggling to convince most of the country of the strength of his economic stewardship, even when he presides over what is by all indicators a strong economy.
In June, Mr Biden tried to flip sceptical Americans on his economic plan by re-introducing his vision of middle-class American prosperity with a speech in Chicago.
Polling in August from the Democratic organisation Navigator Research found that 25 per cent of Americans support Mr Biden's major actions, such as the Inflation Reduction Act, but still think the president is doing a poor job handling the economy.
