The GOP’s signature tax law is projected to increase the national debt by $1.9 trillion between 2018 and 2028, according to a new report by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
According to the report, the tax law would cost the government $2.3 trillion in revenues, but economic growth would offset that figure by about $461 billion.
{mosads}At 11 years, the report covers a slightly longer time period than the usual 10-year projections, but even accounting for just the first decade, the figure remains around $1.9 trillion.
Some Republicans argued vociferously during the tax debate that tax cuts in the bill would pay for themselves, with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin going so far as to say that they would ultimately reduce the national debt and deficits.
Others estimated that a dynamic score of the tax law — one that incorporated macroeconomic effects — would reduce the $1.5 trillion cost of the tax cut down to $1 trillion in added debt.
“The CBO’s latest report exposes the scam behind the rosy rhetoric from Republicans that their tax bill would pay for itself,” Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said in a statement Monday.
He want on decry a planned Balanced Budget Amendment vote in the House this week as a “sham.”
One reason the new CBO estimate may be higher is an expectation that interest rates will rise faster than previously expected, which increases the costs of servicing the debt.
In its 11-year estimate, CBO estimated that interest payments would account for $582 billion of the $1.9 trillion total deficit increase.