With Recent Laws, Congress Has Added $540 Billion to the 2019 Deficit
The Debt

With Recent Laws, Congress Has Added $540 Billion to the 2019 Deficit

REUTERS/Jason Reed

Spending hikes and tax cuts passed since 2015 under the Trump and Obama administrations account for $540 billion of next year’s projected $981 billion budget deficit, or 55 percent, according to calculations released Monday by the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. The CRFB headline: “More Than Half of Next Year's Deficit is Congress's Fault.”

This Congress in particular has added to the tab. “The two largest contributors to the budget deficit are the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 and the December 2017 tax bill — which will cost $190 billion and $230 billion next year, respectively,” CRFB says.

It adds: “It's no longer enough for Congress to 'do no harm' in the near term and ensure solvency of entitlement programs over the long run. Fixing our debt will now require reversing the harm that has already been done with tax cuts and spending increases, in addition to confronting the rising costs of Social Security and Medicare with spending changes and/or additional revenue.”

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