Today in one sentence: Biden proposed a $7.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year that would raise taxes on high earners and corporations to keep Social Security and Medicare from hitting insolvency within the next decade; Trump suggested that he’s open to “cutting” Social Security and Medicare; Trump posted a $91.6 million bond to appeal the $83.3 million judgement against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case; Trump asked to postpone his New York state hush-money trial until the Supreme Court rules on whether "presidential immunity" protects him from criminal prosecution; and the Republican National Committee voted to install a new leadership team that was hand-picked by Trump, completing his takeover of the national party.

1/ Biden proposed a $7.3 trillion budget for the next fiscal year that would raise taxes on high earners and corporations to keep Social Security and Medicare from hitting insolvency within the next decade. Additionally, the budget calls for restoring the expanded Child Tax Credit, fully funding nutrition assistance for women, infants and children through the WIC program, and allowing Medicare to negotiate more aggressively to bring down the cost of prescription drugs. Biden’s budget would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next 10 years through changes to the tax code that target the ultra-wealthy and cutting to “wasteful subsidies.” The fiscal 2025 budget would cut the deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade, and raise taxes by a net total of $4.9 trillion – more than 7% above what the government would collect without any policy changes. The plan, however, stand almost no chance of becoming law, given that Republicans control the House and have been unable to pass a budget for the current fiscal year, which began Oct. 1. (ABC News / Politico / Axios / Associated Press / NPR / Washington Post / New York Times / Bloomberg / Wall Street Journal)

2/ Trump suggested that he’s open to “cutting” Social Security and Medicare, but later backtracked and claimed he was talking about “cutting waste.” In an interview, Trump, when was asked how he’d resolve the long-term solvency problems of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, said that there was “a lot you can do in terms of entitlements in terms of cutting and in terms of also the theft and the bad management of entitlements, tremendous bad management of entitlements.” Biden immediately seized on the comments, saying: “Not on my watch.” He later added: “Many of my Republican friends want to put Social Security and Medicare back on the chopping block again. Many of them are trying to cut Social Security and Medicare or raise the retirement age again. I will stop them.” Social Security is projected to be solvent through 2034, while Medicare is projected to be solvent through 2028. After that, benefits will face automatic cuts with policy changes to add revenue or reduce spending. (NBC News / Washington Post / New York Times / CNN / CNBC)

3/ Trump posted a $91.6 million bond to appeal the $83.3 million judgement against him in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. In January, a federal jury awarded Carroll $83.3 million in damages for Trump’s defamatory statements that denied he raped her, said she wasn’t his type, and accused her of making up the allegation. The bond prevent Carroll from collecting her $83.3 million judgment while Trump appeals the defamation verdict. Nevertheless, after posting his bond, Trump – again – denied Carroll’s rape and defamation claims against him, claiming she is “not a believable person.” Carroll’s lawyer, meanwhile, said she was considering a third defamation lawsuit against Trump. (New York Times / Axios / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg / CNBC / Washington Post / Politico / NBC News / New York Times / CNBC)

4/ Trump asked to postpone his New York state hush-money trial until the Supreme Court rules on whether “presidential immunity” protects him from criminal prosecution. Trump has been charged with 34 counts of falsifying business records tied to a hush money payment to Stormy Daniels during his 2016 campaign. The trial is scheduled to begin on March 25. (Associated Press / Politico / CBS News / NBC News / CNN / Bloomberg)

5/ The Republican National Committee voted to install a new leadership team that was hand-picked by Trump, completing his takeover of the national party. Michael Whatley, a North Carolina Republican and supporter of Trump’s baseless claims of voter fraud in the 2020 presidential election, was elected the party’s new national chairman. And Trump’s daughter-in-law, Lara Trump, was voted in as co-chair. The newly installed leadership team began the process of pushing out dozens of staffers and other officials. (Washington Post / New York Times / USA Today / ABC News / NBC News / CNN / Associated Press / Politico)

Three years ago today: Day 51: "This dark tunnel."
Four years ago today: Day 1147: "It's going to get worse."
Five years ago today: Day 781: Sanity.