The White House Makes a ‘Trillion-Dollar Admission’
Budget

The White House Makes a ‘Trillion-Dollar Admission’

REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

The White House Office of Management and Budget on Friday released its updated annual budget request, known as the mid-session review. The numbers don’t mean much given that the president’s budget won’t be enacted — but they do contain what the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget calls “a very big trillion-dollar admission.” Namely, the White House’s own deficit projections keep rising, thanks to the recently passed tax cuts and spending increases.

The updated budget now includes a projected 2019 deficit of $1.085 trillion, up from $984 billion in February — and more than double the $526 billion the White House called for in its 2018 budget.

“This is a striking acknowledgement following almost two years of claims that economic growth unleashed by these policies will wipe deficits away,” said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget. 

Meanwhile, the average growth rate projected over 10 years has dropped under 3 percent.

TOP READS FROM THE FISCAL TIMES