Luján Statement on New Nonpartisan Government Data Exposing How the Republican Budget Plan Will Explode Debt and Deficit for Decades

Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.), a member of the Senate Budget Committee, issued the following statement after the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) published 10- and 30-year projections of the debt and deficit if Congressional Republicans permanently enact the Trump Tax Scam:

“Congressional Republicans are once again attempting to pass a partisan budget that will fund the Trump Tax Scam 2.0 by ripping away health care, taking food off the table, and making it harder to get a quality education – all to give a tax handout to the wealthiest Americans and corporations.

“This nonpartisan analysis from the CBO makes it clear that if Congressional Republicans move forward with this budget, the debt will skyrocket, the deficit will explode, and working Americans will be left to pay the price. Make no mistake, Congressional Republicans are pushing this partisan budget to fund their latest tax scam on the backs of hardworking Americans with no regard for the devastating impacts it will have on our nation’s economy now and into the future.”

CBO projects that under the Republicans’ budget plan, the national debt will expand by $4.6 trillion over the next 10 years. A second round of the Trump Tax Scam – which Republicans are trying to claim is cost-free by using a “current policy baseline” – a gimmick that will increase the national debt to 214 percent of GDP by 2054. The CBO highlights a few points that would be detrimental to the nation’s economy if Republicans continue down this path:

• A new round of the Trump Tax Scam will increase the primary (non-interest) deficit by $4 trillion. A previous CBO estimate found they would cost $4.6 trillion with interest.
• By 2054, extending the Trump tax giveaways would increase debt to 214 percent of GDP, growing almost twice as fast as under current law. The extension would be responsible for adding almost 30 percent to the national debt.
• A new round of the Trump Tax Scam would mean that long-term economic growth would be slower, and interest rates would be higher, making it harder for businesses to start or to grow and Americans to afford buying a home or a car.

The CBO report can be found HERE.

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