This afternoon, Speaker Johnson appeared on Fox News’s America Reports to discuss the Senate’s consideration of the One Big Beautiful Bill. He addressed the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) estimates and outlined efforts by the House to codify savings identified by the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
Speaker Johnson urged minimal changes to the bill in the Senate, emphasizing a delicate balance maintained in both chambers with small majorities. “We have a big national debt problem,” he stated, adding that they are achieving “the largest amount of savings in the history of government on planet Earth” with over $1.5 trillion in spending cuts.
Regarding CBO estimates, Speaker Johnson criticized their historical inaccuracies, citing a $1 trillion error in projections for the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act during the first Trump administration. He argued that CBO does not use dynamic scoring, which fails to account for economic growth spurred by such bills. The package aims for lower tax rates and less regulation, promising job creation and higher wages.
On efforts to codify DOGE savings, Speaker Johnson highlighted bipartisan support for reducing fraud and waste. He praised Elon Musk’s role in identifying inefficiencies through advanced algorithms. “Elon’s exactly right,” he said, noting that DOGE’s impact will continue beyond Musk’s involvement as it changes governmental oversight permanently.
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