According to the latest estimates from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO),Trump's tax and spending bill passed by House would add $2.42 trillion to U.S. budget deficit over 10 years.
The "scoring report" released Wednesday showed that the bill would result in a $3.67 trillion reduction in expected revenues through 2034, compared with the baseline forecast, while spending would also fall by $1.25 trillion.
This grim fiscal outlook may increase concerns within the Republican Party about the bill.Musk, a Trump ally, slammed the bill on Tuesday as "a congressional spending scandal rife with spoils."
Although House Republicans narrowly passed the bill last month, it faces resistance in the Senate, where several lawmakers have called for changes to its terms. Trump is expected to meet with Senate Finance Committee Republicans on Wednesday to move the process forward.
Trump administration officials have repeatedly questioned the accuracy of the CBO forecast, saying it fails to take into account the impact of tax cuts, reciprocal tariffs and deregulation on economic growth.U.S. Treasury Secretary Jeff Besant declared last month that he was "not worried about the dynamics of the U.S. debt" because GDP expansion would ease the burden, and predicted that economic growth would be "over 3%" by this time next year.
The CBO's $2.42 trillion deficit estimate does not include "dynamic effects" such as economic growth that the new tax reform may trigger.Bessant called on Congress to pass a bill that would raise the statutory debt ceiling by mid-July. The Treasury Department has been taking extraordinary accounting measures to maintain the debt ceiling since the beginning of the year, but warned that it could run out of room for maneuver in August.
Fiscal conservatives are demanding a bill that includes more deficit reduction, while some Republicans are pushing for temporary tax cuts to be made permanent.-- This would further reduce revenue. The CBO ratings would also need to be reviewed by Senate procedural officials to determine whether the provisions comply with the rules of procedure.
The bill includes much of Trump's economic agenda: making his 2017 income tax cuts permanent, fulfilling campaign promises (such as exempting tips and overtime income from taxes until 2028), and raising the federal deduction limit for state and local taxes from $10,000 to $40,000. Federal spending cuts include clean energy subsidies, while requiring Medicaid recipients to meet new work requirements and adjusting nutrition assistance program guidelines - some of which have been opposed by Senate Republicans.
The CBO report specifically pointed out that the current bill may cause 10.9 million people to lose their health insurance by 2034, including 1.4 million people who cannot verify their citizenship or immigration status, who will no longer be able to enjoy state-funded health care programs.
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