The White House delivered a low blow on Friday, accusing congressional Republicans who are denying the president a chance to pitch his budget of pulling a "Donald Trump."

The raw feelings stem from the House and Senate Budget committees' announcement on Thursday that they won’t invite Obama’s budget director to Capitol Hill to discuss the administration's final several-hundred-page proposal, which is to be released on Tuesday.


White House press secretary Josh Earnest said Republicans' refusal to play ball was just as bad as Trump's refusal to take part in the last GOP debate after getting into a nasty spat with Fox News.

“They’re just not going to show up,” Earnest said during the daily briefing, adding that the maneuver smacked of a "Donald Trump approach" to the debate over spending priorities. He then accused the GOP committee leaders of being wobbly knee'd, saying the boycott “raises some questions about how confident they are about the kinds of arguments that they could make.”

On Thursday, the chairmen of the House and Senate Budget committees released a joint statement saying it simply wasn't worth their time to invite Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan to discuss Obama’s fiscal 2017 proposal.

“Rather than spend time on a proposal that, if anything like this administration’s previous budgets, will double down on the same failed policies that have led to the worst economic recovery in modern times, Congress should continue our work on building a budget that balances and that will foster a healthy economy,” said Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.).

Earnest noted that the OMB director has been invited to the Hill to testify on the president’s budget each of the past 16 years. Plans to break that tradition, he said, suggest the “future is pretty dim” for GOP leaders’ goals of making Congress function again.

At the same time, Earnest acknowledged that Obama’s budget isn’t exactly designed to seek consensus, either. The White House’s attitude is why bother, based on previous futile attempts to incorporate Republican ideas into the president’s suggested line items.

“Those kinds of budget proposals that we acknowledged on the front end were a genuine effort to compromise didn’t result in greater congressional action and certainly didn’t result in a more productive conversation with Republicans,” Earnest said. “So I do think that you can expect to see some pretty bold ideas.”

Chief among them: a proposal previewed Thursday to add an oil tax of $10 per barrel to pay for investment in green transportation and research. Republicans have been more than happy to address — and savage — that proposal, which leaders called “dead on arrival.”

“Good grief,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton in a statement that cast the proposal as “ripped from The Onion.”

Rep. Upton (R-Mich.) continued, “The president’s proposed new tax will hurt those most vulnerable. Jump-starting the economy by raising taxes is not a solution that will fly in the Republican Congress.”

Obama defended the proposal in remarks to reporters on Friday, saying the economy won’t face as much disruption from the tax because gas prices are expected to stay low for a decade or two.

“What is also important is that we use this period where gas prices are low to accelerate a transition to a cleaner energy economy because we know that’s not going to last,” Obama said, during an impromptu appearance at the top of the daily briefing.

The White House isn’t under any illusions that the proposed tax will become law. Asked whether the president’s last budget reflects a “YOLO” (you only live once) approach or more serious proposals, Earnest replied, “Those two things aren’t necessarily contradictory.”

Earnest added, “We often say that budgets are an opportunity to be quite specific about where your priorities lay.”

Republicans’ “voracious response” against the proposed oil tax shows that their priorities lie with the oil industry, Earnest said, while Obama is looking out for the middle class first.

Republicans appear eager to continue that debate.

"We look forward to seeing whether or not Senate Democrats will support this massive gas tax on American families, farmers and employers," Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell spokesman Don Stewart said by email.

For now, at least, Hill Democrats are dragging their feet in following Obama's big, bold lead — and like Trump, are not yet showing up to the debate.

Elana Schor and Brian Faler contributed to this report.