GOP debt ceiling bill would save about $4.8 trillion over 10 years: CBO estimate

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said on Tuesday that a Republican-backed package that raises the nation’s debt limit, along with a host of partisan proposals aimed at curbing government spending, could put about $4.8 trillion toward deficit reduction over the next 10 years. 

The CBO, Congress’s nonpartisan budget scorekeeper, estimated that Republicans’ “Limit, Save, Grow Act of 2023” would lead to $3.2 trillion in reductions in discretionary outlays in its projection of budget deficits.

The office also estimated a decrease of about $700 million in mandatory spending on net, a $400 million increase in revenues on net, and about a $500 million decline in interest on public debt.

Among the measures featured in the 320-page package, unveiled last week, includes legislation that would cap future discretionary funding at fiscal 2022 levels, while also limiting growth to one percent annually over the next ten years. 

Other measures attached to the wide-ranging plan would put an end to popular student loan decisions implemented under the Biden administration, beef up work requirements for programs like Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, roll back portions of Democrats’ signature economic bill that passed last year, and more. 

House GOP leadership is planning to bring the bill to the floor for a vote this week, but resistance from within the party’s ranks over certain proposals threatens its chances of passage. 

If passed, Republicans know the partisan plan faces long odds in the Democratic-led Senate, but they see the measure as an opening position for the party as GOP leaders work to bring the White House to the bargaining table in debt limit talks. 

Congress is expected to have until the summer to raise the debt limit or risk a federal default, which economists warn could lead to devastating effects for the nation’s economy.

Republican leaders have been adamant the nation will not default later this year, but they have drawn red lines around working with Democrats to raise the debt limit without fiscal reforms. Democrats, on the other hand, have pressed for a “clean” measure to raise the debt ceiling, while instead insisting bipartisan budget talks be carried out separately.

“The Republican majority could put an end to this entire fabricated crisis right now,” Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.), top Democrat on the House Budget Committee, said on Tuesday. “Just put a clean bill on the House floor so America can pay what it owes. And then we can move on to negotiating future spending like we do every year.”

But Republicans have defended the proposed cuts, touting the bill as a means to help tackle inflation and a step in the right direction to bring down government spending.

House Budget Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) said Republicans agree with Democrats that it is “responsible” to raise the debt ceiling.

“But it would be irresponsible to do so without meaningful fiscal reforms, in fact, it would be nothing short of negligence,” he said. “We cannot give a blank check to any politician, Republican or Democrat, to continue to bankrupt this country and that’s what’s happening.”

The debt ceiling limits how much money the Treasury can borrow to pay the country’s bills. It was last increased to roughly $31.4 trillion in late 2021.