Republicans' New Plan to Silence Critics

President Joe Biden has attacked House Republicans over veterans' benefits in the standoff over the debt ceiling, but the White House will soon lose one of their biggest talking points as GOP leaders prepare to debut a bill that will undercut those claims.

GOP lawmakers on the House spending panel are expected to approve the legislation that funds the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) and military construction projects on Wednesday, Politico reported. By making their plans for veterans' benefits clear, while holding off on a dozen of other spending measures, Republicans are likely trying to put an end to Biden's criticism.

The White House and House Republicans are sparring over the GOP's debt limit bill, which would raise the cap in exchange for a 22 percent cut across agencies. In his response to the proposal, Biden has framed the Limit, Save, Grow Act as a direct 22 percent funding cut to the VA—a claim that Republicans dispute, saying those cuts will not apply evenly across the board.

"How do MAGA Republicans choose to repay those who fought to defend our country?" Biden tweeted over the weekend. "They are proposing cutting veterans' health care funding, which would result in as many as 30 million fewer veteran outpatient visits."

Last month, House GOP Conference Chair Elise Stefanik accused the White House of "shamelessly lying about veterans benefits and politicizing the VA to do so," The Hill reported.

The Republicans' spending proposal does not make any specific cuts to veteran benefits and defense, but it has raised questions over what will change for the nation's more than 16 million military veterans.

"The budget itself is silent on veterans and the Veteran Affairs budget. So, it doesn't specifically cut the VA budget, but it also doesn't specifically protect the VA budget," Carrie Farmer, the co-director of the RAND Epstein Family Veterans Policy Research Institute, told ABC News earlier this month.

Should the GOP-proposed cuts apply equally across agencies, it would result in 81,000 job cuts and 30 million fewer outpatient visits, VA data suggests.

Republican strategist Alex Patton told Newsweek that a move from House Republicans will likely "muddy the water" and result in both sides continuing with their current messaging.

"It is when the public hears from veterans and veteran groups is when it becomes real," Patton said, adding that the fight over the debt ceiling will seem "like child's play" in the case the country actually defaults.

Some have pointed out that while Biden's messaging could be misleading because the specific spending cuts have not been decided yet, it is unlikely that veterans or defense would be unaffected given the massive caps proposed by the GOP bill.

"It would mean very deep cuts for everything else," Marc Goldwein, the senior policy director of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, told ABC.

Actual funding levels would be set during the appropriations process. Stefanik has vowed that during the process, Republicans "will ensure that both defense and our VA are fully funded."

Representative Tom Cole, a senior GOP appropriator, told Politico that the Pentagon and border security issues will also likely be spared from the funding cuts.

Newsweek reached out to the White House for comment.