The White House is pushing back hard on claims that President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill will add over $4 trillion to the federal deficit. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt called the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) projections “shoddy” and “anemic,” arguing they fail to account for the pro-growth effects of Trump’s economic agenda.
Leavitt criticized the CBO’s long-term growth assumptions, saying they rely on outdated models that underestimate the impact of Trump’s tax cuts, deregulation, and energy policies. “The CBO assumes long-term GDP growth of an anemic 1.8%, and that is absurd,” Leavitt stated during Thursday’s press briefing. She pointed to the CBO’s poor track record, citing its 2017 prediction that growth would average 1.9% under the Trump tax cuts. In reality, the U.S. economy grew at 3.4% by the end of 2019.
Leavitt said the Council of Economic Advisers (CEA), part of the Executive Office of the President, has a more accurate assessment. According to the CEA’s analysis, the One Big Beautiful Bill would drive long-term economic growth to 3%, generating $4.1 trillion in additional revenue over the next decade—offsetting the deficit impact claimed by the CBO.
The CBO’s projections, Leavitt argued, are part of a long history of government scorekeepers underestimating the impact of pro-growth policies, regardless of the party in power. The White House insists Trump’s policies—cutting taxes, slashing regulations, and unleashing American energy—will drive economic expansion like “Americans have never seen before.”
The administration maintains that with strong growth, the One Big Beautiful Bill will not balloon the deficit, but instead deliver a robust, self-sustaining economy that secures America’s future.
