Blue Dog Coalition Statement on the GOP’s Use of Current Policy Baseline in Partisan Budget Bill

“In an egregious display of fiscal irresponsibility, Senate Republicans ignored decades of precedent and Senate Parliamentarian guidance and used gimmicky accounting tricks to justify their partisan budget bill and lie to Americans about the real cost of this legislation. 

For years, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) and Joint Committee on Taxation (JCT) have used a Current Law Baseline - a method that reflects existing law and accounts for the cost of extending expiring policies. In the Senate’s bill, they relied on a Current Policy Baseline, which allows expiring policies to continue indefinitely without acknowledging their true costs. 

The GOP is using this accounting dupe to lie to the American people and claim this legislation will reduce the deficit. In reality, when scored honestly, the CBO estimates the bill would add over $3.9 trillion to the national debt. And some experts estimate that it will increase interest costs by nearly $700 billion. 

If Congress chooses to extend expiring tax cuts, we should be honest about the cost rather than pretending they come for free. Our nation is already on an unsustainable fiscal trajectory as interest payments on the national debt exceed spending on Medicare or defense this year and will reach $1 trillion next year. Rather than confronting this reality, the GOP elected to paper over deficits, further driving up debt and long-term interest rates. That, in turn, will squeeze out critical investments and make it harder for working Americans to exercise economic power.

It does not have to be this way. Time and time again, Blue Dogs extended a helping hand in an effort to work with Republican leadership and avoid this scenario. Americans understand the need for responsible budgeting, and Congress should hold itself to the same standard. The Blue Dog Coalition remains committed to fiscal responsibility and bipartisan solutions.” 

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ABOUT THE COALITION: The Blue Dog Coalition is an official caucus in the U.S. House of Representatives composed of fiscally-responsible Democrats, who are leading the way to find common-sense solutions. They are pragmatic Democrats, appealing to mainstream values of the American public. The Blue Dogs are dedicated to pursuing fiscally-responsible policies, ensuring a strong national defense for our country, and transcending party lines to get things done for the American people.