The Congressional Budget Office is being assailed for stating facts about the GOP’s tax bill.
As Republican tax-cut legislation struggles to get through Congress under the weight of its staggering cost, party leaders have responded to criticism by trying to shift the blame. They’re assailing the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office for the transgression of honestly describing the ugly $2.4 trillion reality of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, as the legislation is titled.
GOP leaders have rallied around the talking point that the CBO’s egghead economists just don’t understand that tax cuts will unleash economic growth so stupendous that the additional tax revenue will offset the bill’s entire cost. What began with a May strategy memo from Newt Gingrich has grown to a chorus of condemnation of the CBO from congressional leaders, the White House press secretary and President Donald Trump.
Don’t fall for this spin. The CBO was created by Congress in 1974 as a counterweight to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. Rather than having to rely on an often adversarial White House for budget estimates, Congress would have its own scoring body. The CBO is composed largely of nonpartisan economists and attorneys, with its director appointed by the party that controls Congress. Since 2019, it has been led by Phillip Swagel, a widely respected Republican economist.
Continue reading the entire piece at The Washington Post (paywall)
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Jessica Riedl (formerly Brian Riedl) is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute. Follow her on Twitter here.
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