A White House memo first obtained by NBC News argues GOP plans to repeal Biden’s laws would amount to a \u201chistoric redistribution of wealth … to Big Pharma and China.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
WASHINGTON \u2014 In legacy mode, outgoing President Joe Biden\u2019s White House is warning the Republicans who are about to take power against repealing his biggest achievements<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cRepealing President Biden\u2019s signature laws would be an historic redistribution of wealth from working Americans to Big Pharma and China,\u201d Andrew Bates, a senior White House spokesperson, writes in the subject line of a new memo being circulated to interested parties and allies, which was first obtained by NBC News.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The memo makes an economic and political case against undoing Biden-era laws that President-elect Donald Trump and other Republicans have put on the chopping block in major party-line legislation that they\u2019re eyeing<\/a> for next year, most notably the clean energy<\/a> and health care provisions<\/a> in the Inflation Reduction Act.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cDepriving the American people of these benefits would be a gut-punch to our economic growth,\u201d the memo says, and it \u201cwould provoke a tidal wave of opposition from the American people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It serves as a mix of messaging advice for Democrats and a preview of the fight to come next year<\/a> as Trump and a GOP-controlled Congress seek to use the budget \u201creconciliation\u201d process to advance key parts of Trump\u2019s agenda along party lines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During the campaign, Trump said<\/a>, \u201cWe will rescind all unspent funds under the misnamed Inflation Reduction Act.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Republicans won a 53-seat Senate majority<\/a> and a slim House majority of 220-215<\/a> in the elections. Democrats don\u2019t have the votes to stop them from advancing a major bill to change spending and tax laws; all they can do is make it politically painful for the GOP to slash the programs Biden and Democrats passed along party lines in his term.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To that end, the White House memo noted that the clean energy funding under the Inflation Reduction Act \u2014 the GOP\u2019s top target for repeal \u2014 includes benefits for many House Republicans’ districts and said it has helped fuel \u201cAmerica\u2019s long-sought manufacturing resurgence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThat includes the creation of over 330,000 clean energy jobs<\/a> \u2014 disproportionately<\/a> in House districts represented by Republicans. Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, we\u2019ve already saved more than 3.4 million Americans $8.4 million on clean energy upgrades to their homes, and more than 300,000 Americans have saved over $2 billion upfront on [electric vehicle] purchases,\u201d Bates wrote. \u201cWe have also capped the price of insulin at $35, Medicare has already negotiated lower costs for 10 major drugs, and more Americans have health insurance than ever before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The memo said that significant grants for projects under the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as the CHIPS and Science Act, \u201chave been locked-in\u201d and that more will become available over the 10-year horizon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese landmark achievements are so popular with the American people that Republican members of Congress who voted to prevent them are now being caught trying to take credit for their benefits, and even\u2002writing formal letters<\/a> advocating<\/a> against their repeal,\u201d Bates wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sen. Thom Tillis, R-N.C., a Finance Committee member, said all unspent funds under the Inflation Reduction Act, as well as other Democratic-led programs, are fair game for cuts to find savings to pay for an extension of the Trump tax cuts and other provisions of the GOP’s planned party-line legislation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Other Republicans say there are plenty of other places for the GOP to find cuts to finance their multitrillion-dollar effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe good thing is there\u2019s been so much waste and reckless spending over the last four years, it\u2019s going to be a target rich environment,\u201d said Rep. Greg Murphy, R-N.C., a member of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, which will play an important role in writing the GOP bills next year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Murphy said he also favors slashing Affordable Care Act subsidies under the Inflation Reduction Act, which the Biden administration has used to limit insurance premiums for many in the middle class. The money will expire at the end of 2025<\/a> unless Congress renews it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cACA subsidies to insurance companies \u2014 does nothing for health care,\u201d he said. \u201cI think a lot of it needs to go away.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Asked whether the slim margins could hinder House Republicans when it comes to passing the major party-line measures, Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., said it\u2019s a familiar dynamic for them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhat else is new?\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n