Trump will add $4.1 trillion to the national debt after signing budget deal, watchdog warns
President Donald Trump could soon add trillions of dollars to the national debt, according to a new report from a nonpartisan finance watchdog group.
If Trump signs the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 into law, he will have been responsible for adding another $1.7 trillion to the national debt by 2029, for a total of at least $4.1 trillion added since he took office, according to the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.
Nearly half of that amount, $1.8 trillion, comes from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, which Republicans passed in the winter of 2017.
“This number could easily climb higher if lawmakers extend the individual tax cuts that are set to expire after 2025, which would add another $1 trillion to the debt,” according to a committee statement. “Importantly, the $4.1 trillion of debt signed into law by President Trump is on top of the $16.2 trillion we already owe and the $9.8 trillion we were projected to borrow over the next decade absent these proposals.”
By 2029, the national debt would be 97 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product, the committee warned.
“To avoid the huge run-up in debt that is projected in the coming decades, lawmakers should reject unpaid-for spending increases, pay for the tax bill, and address the rising costs and looming insolvency of our nation’s largest health and retirement programs.”
This story was originally published July 26, 2019 at 12:51 PM with the headline "Trump will add $4.1 trillion to the national debt after signing budget deal, watchdog warns."
