Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) responded on Friday to a Congressional Budget Office report that scored deficit reduction under President Obama’s budget below the administration’s estimates.
The CBO analysis found that the deficit would be reduced by less than half of what the Obama administration estimated.
Earlier this year, the president claimed the 10-year deficit would be reduced by $2.7 trillion, from $7.6 trillion to $4.9 trillion, under his budget. The CBO recently found that the president’s budget will reduce the deficit by $1 trillion, from $7.6 trillion to $6.6 trillion.
Portman, a member of the Senate Finance Committee, said it would be “irresponsible” to add $6.6 trillion to the deficit over the next 10 years.
“The president’s budget promised big cuts in our deficit, but the new non-partisan analysis shows that’s not the case,” Portman said. “Our country cannot afford to add trillions of dollars to our national debt over the next decade. This new analysis proves that we must do more to reduce spending and grow our economy.”
Overall, administration officials estimated the deficit would fall to $434 billion by 2024. The CBO, however, estimates the deficit will be $746 billion.
“We need to cut unnecessary spending, slow entitlement growth, and pass policies to promote robust economic growth,” Portman said.